The Legend of Zelda: The Great War
by Chris Wizzudz
Summary: Two years after the Hylian/Alkorian War, Hyrule finds itself in the midst of yet another war. This time around, wave after wave of monsters are trying to take the country by force, and it's no mere coincidence. Something on a whole new dimension of evil has happened, and it's a three-sided bloodbath. Based very loosely off Hyrule Warriors. PART THREE of the Chaos Saga. HIATUS
1. Foreword

_*Foreword*_

Hello again, Fanfiction. It's me again.

So, recently I've been struggling with stories because I had no idea how to continue them. Well, no more. I've had it with other fandoms like Minecraft, Avengers, the Alien franchise, etc., because of one thing: PLOT BUNNIES. So I say to hell with the plot bunnies. From now on, I'm going to stick to one story, and one story only. And it is this very story.

Many of you may wonder this: "Is this a sequel to _Rise_?" Yes. It's more of a Hyrule Warriors-type story, but technically speaking I'm placing it after _Rise._ Which is why I'd suggest to those of you who are new to reading my stories to consider reading _Rise of the Black Mesa _first. Those of you who have already read _Rise _and it's optional spin-off story, _Eulogy for a Fallen Comrade_, read on.

You may also wonder: "Why are you still trying to make a sequel to _Rise_?" Yes, sequels suck, and very few are actually good (Hunger Games and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, to name a few.) Plus, my failed sequels which I've deleted off the archives (_Dawn of the Dragon Prince_ and _A Hylian's Creed_) were just not getting anywhere. The starts were too slow, I didn't get the right feel to it, and I'd been distracted by so many plot bunnies that I just could _not _concentrate. But now, I've realized something. I need the same devotion to the story that I had when writing _Rise_. And so, I'm going to ignore the stupid bunnies and focus more on this story than anything else.

I personally have not yet played Hyrule Warriors, though I have my pre-ordered copy with the Skyward Sword DLC ready for when I get a Wii U this Christmas. However, I know just enough of it to know how to play things throughout the story. I promise you, this story is going to drag on until/past Christmas, so when I do manage to get into Hyrule Warriors, hopefully I'll have a bit more of a knowledge of how to get things to really go. _**THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU GET TO SPOIL THE GAME IN THE REVIEWS. PLEASE, IF YOU ARE REVIEWING, DON'T GIVE AWAY ANY PARTS OF THE GAME'S STORY, AS I WOULD LIKE IT TO BE A SURPRISE. THANKS!**_

I won't keep you guys for much longer. I want you guys to enjoy reading this story, and I promise I'll do my best to devote all of my writing to this story. So without further ado, let us begin _The Legend of Zelda: The Great War._

_**WARNING: Rated T for the following:**  
><em>

_-Violence  
>-Language<br>-Sensitive Themes_


	2. Chapter 1: Supernatural

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER ONE: Supernatural_

The heavy winter snow beat down on Link's thick coat, glazing him in a white blanket of tiny snowflakes. It was a bad winter this year. It was one of the coldest, harshest winters Hyrule had had in ten years, and Link wasn't liking any of it. He trudged through the streets of Southern CastleTown City in a foot of packed snow, his jaw shaking as his unprotected face fought against the cold. He really needed to invest in a mask.

Stairs were harder for him, as it was difficult to see where each stair was. He was trying to descend into the little alcove to the left of the street, where Telma's bar was situated. He managed to make it down about halfway before he slipped on ice and slid the rest of the way down, soaking his pants with the snow. He cursed under his cold breath and got up, brushing snow off of his pants and taking the last few steps to warmth and rest.

"Hey, hon." Telma said from behind the counter as Link walked in. He hung his coat on a hook in the wall and sat down at the bar. "Want anything?" She asked him.

"Hot cocoa, please." Link said politely, though his tone was quite bitter. Telma brought out a mug and filled it with the hot brown liquid, placing it in front of Link. The steam rising from the drink quickly warmed Link's face, and he took a quick sip. The drink was too hot for his mouth to handle, and so he decided to wait until it was cool enough to drink.

"Nasty storm outside, hmm?" Telma said observantly. Link nodded.

"Worst one I've ever seen." Link agreed. "Much worse than the winter of 928. I was only twelve years old then."

"928 was a bad year in general. Big drought, harsh winter, and half of the country's crops were completely wiped out. We were more prepared this year." Telma picked up a dirty mug from the sink and began cleaning it with a rag. Her movements weren't as usually calm as Link had seen them; they were a bit faster and more aggressive. Link wondered if she was having some kind of problem.

"You OK?" He asked her. She sighed and put the mug down, then leaned up against the counter. She covered her eyes with one hand and remained quiet for a moment.

"I've got this feeling, hon." She finally said. "Something I haven't had in a couple of years. I feel as though we're heading back into a war."

"A war?" Link asked. "We just got out of one not too long ago. Do you know if one of our allied countries betrayed us?"

"No, it's not like that." Telma sighed. "It feels almost... supernatural."

* * *

><p>Zelda tossed and turned in her sleep, her subconscious mind having a strange and cryptic dream. In it, she could see a slender, extremely attractive woman commanding an army of monsters, meeting with two mysterious people, and seemingly seducing the Hero of Twilight, Link. She could also see the images of a powerful dragon burning down villages and a strange wizard dwelling in the poisonous fog of Northern Faron Woods, laughing menacingly. But what truly intrigued her were the portals. Portals that brought forth people from past eras and other dimensions. Most of these people all joined together with the Hylian Army to defend what she realized was Hyrule Castle, whereas the rest fought against them. There were so few in the Hylian Army fighting against hordes upon hordes of monsters, and it appeared to be that Hyrule was losing the battle. At the end of the dream, she saw a wall of fire, and from it jumped a massive boar, baring its fangs as it lunged at her.<p>

She awoke in a cold sweat, sitting upright in her bed. Her mind was still lingering on the images of the dream, and she could still feel the hot breath of the boar as it had attacked her. She looked around her room, noticing that almost nothing seemed out of place. Almost.

"Another nightmare?" A voice came from her left. She turned her head, jumping when she saw a white figure sitting in a chair next to her bed. The figure was of a familiar old man, one whom had once served in the Hylian Resistance during the Alkorian War. She remembered him to have been a good friend of Link's.

"Auru?" She asked.

"Yes, it's me." Auru said kindly. "Don't be alarmed, your Highness. I have merely been tasked by the goddesses to watch over you. From the looks of things, you seem to be having constant restless nights. I believe this is due to nightmares?"

"Only one repetitive nightmare, actually." Zelda corrected. "Every night, it's the same. Strange people, war, fire, odd portals, and a boar that attacks me. I don't know what it all means."

"As the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, you may currently be subject to visions, not mere dreams." Auru stood and began pacing the room. Zelda remained seated in her bed, watching his ghostly figure. "These are not visions of the past, however, but of the future. Which is why I've appeared to you." He turned and looked into her eyes. "Another war is coming. An inter-dimensional war. This time, however, you are alone. None of the surrounding countries like Mareden, Corea, or Narine can help you."

"I see." Zelda said. "And what of this boar?"

"Well, I'm not so sure of that one." Auru bowed his head in thought for a moment. "Try speaking with Link on the matter. Perhaps he will know something." His ghostly figure disappeared, leaving Zelda feeling very alone in her room once again.

* * *

><p>It was early morning when Link received a letter in his postbox addressed to him from the Queen. Zelda almost never had to send him letters, not since he had moved from Ordon to CastleTown. Usually, because he was now considered a noble in the eyes of royalty and of the people, Zelda would send messengers to deliver messages that were either about certain occasions or summoning him to meet with her. The messenger typically would stand at his doorstep and loudly announce the message before going about his business. Link hated having to tell the messenger to quiet down all the time, and he really hated having to do all sorts of responsibilities that he had never intended on doing in the first place. He had moved here simply because he could no longer stand having to take care of Ordon while the Mayor, Bo, drunk himself sick every day and moped about his house. Now he had even more problems to worry about. He hoped this letter wasn't about the upcoming CastleTown Christmas Celebration, which he had a feeling the Queen would put him in charge for. He opened up the letter and began to read.<p>

_Dear Link,_

_I understand this is one of the few personal letters I've had to send you since you moved here, and I know how much you hate being yelled at by the Royal Messenger. I do need nobles to help me take care of things, you know. You just seemed like the most qualified person for the responsibility. Anyway, the reason I'm sending you this letter is because I have some questions I would like to ask you. Recently, I've been having a __reoccurring nightmare that has put me on edge. I'll be brief in its description._

_The dream begins with a tall, slender woman in different scenarios. First, she is commanding a massive army of monsters to attack what I think is the Castle. Then, she is meeting with two mysterious people - a man in dragon's armor and a one-eyed wizard. Her last scenario is of her seducing you. I'm not sure why, but it is a most disturbing scene to witness._

_Next in this dream is a vision of a large dragon burning down village after village, destroying everything in its path. I'm pretty sure this is a pet of the aforementioned man in dragon's armor. Then I see a vision of the aforementioned one-eyed wizard sitting in the midst of that poisonous fog in Faron Woods, laughing. _

_The next scene in this dream is one that intrigues me the most. In this scene, I see groups of people both good and evil climbing out of four portals. One portal is from the distant past - almost a thousand or so years ago - with people coming from floating islands in the sky. The next I have easily recognized as the portal from the era of the Hero of Time, and the third is possibly a dimensional portal, which has people coming from a town with a large clock tower. The fourth - and this is the oddest of the four - is of our era. Or rather, our era in the recent past. I didn't quite understand it, but I believe this fourth portal is actually a door to resurrect the dead - meaning all of our past friends and enemies could emerge from this portal, including Zant, Ganondorf, and the Black Mesa. _

_The last part of this dream is confusing. In it, I see a wall of fire, and from it a large boar lunges at me. I fear this boar might mean something terrible is about to happen. Or it may be something that you may have previously fought. _

_This dream is what brings the following questions:  
>-Who are the three people I first saw in the dream - the woman, the wizard and the dragon man?<br>-What do the portals mean?  
>-What does the boar mean?<em>

_I would greatly appreciate your answers as soon as possible, and I would prefer you respond via letter. I am too busy with the Christmas Celebration to have meetings with anyone. _

_With all my love, _

_Zelda_

_P.S. Speaking of the Christmas Celebration, I'm not going to put you in charge of it, but I would ask that you please find something regal to wear for the Feast and the Christmas Ball. Something other than your golden armor, preferably. Thank you._

Link frowned. Just more problems to deal with. He had been so overtaken with issues that he had actually ordered a pint of ale at Telma's bar the previous night, in order to try and ease his constant worries. First, he had noble responsibilities to take care of. Then he had Telma telling him that she felt Hyrule may be going back into a war, and Zelda's dream possibly confirmed that. Now he had to worry about finding something regal other than his golden armor to wear for the Christmas Celebration.

_As if my life couldn't get any harder. I almost wish I had moved to Kakariko instead._

Sighing, he went to his study room and pulled out a pen and paper and began writing his response to Zelda's letter.

* * *

><p>Far away, in a hidden fortress behind Death Mountain, sat a tall, slender young woman in a throne surrounded by fire. Half of her face was hidden by a mask that resembled a crow, leaving only her mouth exposed. She wore a very revealing outfit, covering just enough of her body so that nothing private was showing, but revealing just enough so that her breasts were almost spilling out.<p>

Before her knelt a hooded wizard with one eye, and a tall, muscular man in armor that resembled a fierce dragon. Their heads were bowed as they knelt before the young woman, not daring to raise their heads or make eye contact with her. She, after all, was a being of great power. At least, she would be. Her power was stripped of her two years ago, and had been given away to someone called the "Fierce Deity". Now she wanted it back, and she would do anything to get it. And her two comrades had vowed to help her.

"My friends," She said almost seductively. "Soon we will attack the kingdom of Hyrule and take back what is rightfully mine: The power of the Triforce." She looked down at her comrades, sighing with pleasure. "Ah, yes. For you two. I am willing to give you whatever it is you want of Hyrule. Be it the kingdom itself or its armies, I care not. All I want is my power returned."

"I merely wish for one thing." The wizard said in a snakelike voice. "To haunt the people and bring fear to their hearts."

"And you shall have it, Wizzro." She said. She turned her head to the dragon man. "And what is it you desire, Volga?"

"To dominate the kingdom and rule it as its king." Volga demanded. "Any person who dares come against me will be terminated."

"A fine king you will make, Volga." She stood and began pacing around them. "Let us make it known - either by force or by the Hylians' surrender - that Volga and Wizzro, the Demon Lords of Fear, will make the people afraid, even of their own shadows." She looked up at the top of Death Mountain and smiled. "And let the people know that it was Cia, the Sorceress of Shadows, who claimed Hyrule and transformed the "Chosen Land" into a land of darkness."


	3. Chapter 2: Nobility Business

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER TWO: Nobility Business_

The Noblility. One of Link's least favorite shops in CastleTown. The Nobility was a shop known for its snobbish staff and equally snobbish customers, as well as overpriced items that Link would have never been able to buy before he became a noble. Not only was the shop snobbish and overpriced, it was also exclusive to nobles. Which meant that peasants were shunned and frowned upon. The security was rough, too. A Hylian soldier stood on each side of the shop's entrance, admitting only those whom were on the official list of nobles. If you weren't on the list, you had to either leave the premises or be arrested. What made the security so rough was that the Hylian soldiers were specially trained with unmatched memory. If they saw a face they recognized, they would be able to associate a name to the person within seconds. If they couldn't find the name, they would ask for proof of nobility via a notice written by the Queen. If there was no proof, then the soldiers would know exactly who that person was and deny him or her access if he or she tried to enter the store again.

Link had only been to the shop once: To get his golden armor polished. Now he had returned to the shop to purchase an outfit that would be suitable for both himself and the Christmas Celebration. Unfortunately for him, the nobles' style was a little more than ridiculous. The noblemen wore leotards, tights, and big frilly ruffs, and sometimes brightly-colored capes draped over the left shoulder. Link vowed that he would never wear something as ugly as what the noblemen wore, and instead looked around for something that was more his forte. It wasn't long before he was approached by a staff member.

"Is there something I can help you with, Sir Link?" The staff member asked. He was a short, stocky man, wearing the very style of clothing Link despised. The Hero looked down at him and tried to smile a bit.

"Actually, yeah." Link said. Then he remembered how the nobles spoke and corrected himself. "Yes, there is something. I am looking for something to wear for the upcoming Christmas Celebration. Might there be any tunics in stock?" Link had to hold himself back from laughing at how stupid he sounded. It was really difficult to be a noble.

"Tunics?" The man replied. "Oh, no. No, no, no, that would never do. Not for the Christmas Celebration. You will want something more fashionable." He disappeared behind a shelf for a moment, then came back with a set of clothes. "Here, try these on. They are of the highest quality and fashion among us nobles. You would do well to purchase them." The man led Link up to a dressing room and pushed him in, shutting the door behind him. Link locked the door and looked in the mirror, sighing.

After a few minutes of struggling, Link finally had the outfit on, and he looked at himself in the mirror. He wore white leggings, a silver leotard, a white ruff around his neck, and a silver cape on his left shoulder. On his feet were ugly pear-shaped shoes.

_I look like a pansy. _

Link had to admit, the cape looked good. Everything else just looked terrible.

After another few minutes, Link was back in his old clothes and stepped out of the dressing room. The man was still there, waiting for him. He frowned.

"Did you try on the outfit?" He asked. Link nodded.

"About the fashion," He said, remembering to talk like a noble. "I am more of a "different" kind of person, in that I like to stand out among the crowd. I like to wear something that grabs the attention of everyone that sees me."

"A fine nobleman you are, sir." The man said. He reached up for the outfit and took it from Link's arms, once again disappearing behind a shelf and reappearing with a new set of clothing. "How about this? It's not entirely fashionable, but it does retain some elements of today's noble attire. It is quite flashy as well. You will indeed stand out among the rest." Link took the outfit and returned to the dressing room to try it on. It was a bit less ridiculous than the first outfit. It consisted of a royal blue silk cape, a white leotard, black leggings, and white knee-high leather boots. The ruff was gone, but it still looked silly. Link frowned, accepting the fact that he wasn't going to convince the man to at least find him a tunic.

After changing back into his old clothes again, Link exited the dressing room, the outfit in hand. He looked down at the man and made a slight smile. "This outfit seems more appropriate to my liking." He said. The man smiled.

"Excellent." He said. He spun on his heel and began walking towards the front desk, Link walking closely behind him, feeling very silly about his purchase.

After forking over 400 rupees for the outfit, Link breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the chilly air of the outside world. He was still upset about not being able to purchase a tunic, but if the nobles were so keen on wearing ridiculous, tight-fitting clothes, especially for special occasions such as the Christmas Celebration, it would have to do.

* * *

><p>A knock came to Link's door just minutes after he had returned home. Link glanced out the window before answering, frowning when he saw the Royal Messenger. Grumbling to himself, he turned the handle and opened the door. The Messenger unrolled a scroll and began speaking in his usual loud voice.<p>

"To the head of the house," The Messenger began. "This is a public message from the Queen. The Christmas Celebration will begin in three days' time. For the nobles, be prepared to come dressed in fashionable attire for the Celebration Feast and Ball. You are expected to be in attendance. Every noble's name will be listed. For the common folk, you are invited to attend a public dinner at the Castle on the same night. You are not expected to be in attendance, and should you have your own means of celebrating the holidays, such as in your homes with your families, then you are welcome to do so. Signed, Queen Zelda of Hyrule." Without another word, the Messenger left Link's doorstep and made his way to the next person's home, allowing Link to shut the door and groan. One of his maids heard him.

"Is something wrong, m'lord?" She asked. Link shook his head and entered his study, shutting himself behind the mahogany doors and leaning up against them.

_Why in Din's name did Zelda make me a noble?_

His eyes caught sight of the Master Sword, sitting on a set of hooks on the wall. Link had kept the Master Sword with him after he had sent his cousin, Kyrus, falling to his death over the Throne Room balcony. There hadn't been any rumors of evil approaching Hyrule, and so Link felt it was safe to keep the Master Sword out of its pedestal in the Sacred Grove. The Master Sword immediately reminded him of his role as the Hero of Twilight, and as the Hero he was therefore granted nobility because he had saved the kingdom not once, but twice.

_How in Din's name did I manage to be a part of the bloodline of the Hero?_

* * *

><p>Zelda sat at her desk, rubbing her temples as she pored over reports and notices. She had been sitting at her desk since breakfast, reading report after report and signing document after document. She had asked that no one but her advisor bother her, so that she could focus on her work. If anything was needed, her advisor alone would notify her.<p>

As if on cue, her advisor rapped quietly on the door and called for her. Zelda looked up from her desk.

"What is it, Albert?" She asked.

"Letter for you, your Highness." Her advisor said. Zelda called him in, and he briskly walked up to the desk and laid the letter down in front of her, then left as quickly as he had entered. Zelda looked down at the letter, smiling when she read the return address; Link had responded. Excited, she cut open the envelope and pulled out the letter and began to read.

_Dear Zelda, _

_I got your letter, and your dream sounds quite interesting. I've been having similar nightmares, but nothing as elaborate as what you're experiencing. I mainly just see battles and monsters. _

_I know very little to be able to understand what your dream means. While I have seen these three people you've described in my own dreams, I'm not entirely sure who they are or why they're even in the dream. They look quite suspicious though. Quick question: Was the woman actually seducing me in your dream? I never saw that part for myself, and I'm just a little taken aback by it._

_As for the portals, I've only seen them appearing in my dreams. I haven't seen people coming out of them. But if that fourth portal is a revival portal, then let's just hope it's a dream and not actually a vision of the future. I'd hate to have to fight the living dead._

_The boar is what scares me the most. I don't think it would be the boar of a bulblin, as those are pretty average size. If you say the boar was large, as in larger than average, how big was it exactly? I've seen some pretty big boars before. Maybe you could give me a brief description of the boar itself?_

_One last thing: About that outfit for the Christmas Celebration, I'll have to go out to The Nobility to get it. But for Din's sake, I don't want to wear one of those stupid ruffs. They just look silly. So when I show up without a ruff, please don't put one on me. The Hero of Twilight doesn't like walking around looking like a pansy. _

_With all my love,_

_Link_

Zelda frowned. Link hadn't been able to answer any of her questions, and he had asked for a description of the boar. The only thing he had actually managed to do was worry about his outfit for the Christmas Celebration.

_He's certainly becoming more like a noble. _

Figuring she had a bit of time to respond, she put the letter aside and brought out a pen and a fresh sheet of paper and began writing a response. She hadn't gotten very far when she heard a voice off to her left.

"A Queen shouldn't be procrastinating." The voice said. Zelda turned her head to see her Sheikah guardian, Impa, sitting on her bed. She jumped slightly when she saw her, relaxing immediately after realizing who it was.

"Goodness, Impa," Zelda said, placing a hand over her surprised heart. "You certainly have a way of scaring me."

"I don't mean to." Impa replied. "But you should really focus on those documents, rather than writing a response to your Hero."

"How did you-"

"-I'm a Sheikah. I know and see things before you do, and I knew that letter was from Link the moment I saw Albert place it on your desk." Impa walked over to her and picked up Link's letter and began reading. Her eyes skimmed the page, reading the entire message within a short minute. She set the letter down and looked at the Queen, a concerned look on her face. "I can tell you most of this information, but you will want to inquire of Link about that boar. I would rather he tell you of it that I."


	4. Chapter 3: The Truth About The Boar

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER THREE: The Truth About The Boar_

Cia posed in front of a mirror, smoothing out any wrinkles in her dress. She was to attend the Hylian Christmas Feast, where she would spy on this Fierce Deity - the man who had taken her power for his own. The plan was to get him alone, seduce him into giving her power back to her, then kill him and the Queen. Once she had the Triforce back, she would return to Volga and Wizzro and commence the attack on Hyrule Castle. Today, she was merely trying it on to make sure it fit properly.

Volga accidentally walked in on her as she checked herself out, ducking back behind the door too late; Cia had heard the door squeak. She turned, raising an eyebrow when she saw him, and then smiled.

"Like what you see?" She asked. Volga stepped in boldly, nodding. Cia frowned. "I don't. This ruff looks silly. The dress is far too tight, and I can barely breathe. How do Hylian noblewomen wear this?"

"Perhaps the noblewomen train themselves not to breathe at all." Volga said gruffly. "But the men look far more pathetic. I'm glad it's not me that's going."

"You and Wizzro will stay behind with the armies and wait for my signal." Cia said. "Unless you'd like to wear this?" She brushed her dress. Volga chuckled.

"No, I understand the plan completely, Cia." He said. "I'll wait with Wizzro for your command."

"Good." Cia said. She waved her hand. "Now out with you. I need to finish getting ready." Volga nodded and left, shutting the door behind him. She turned back to the mirror, frowning as she struggled to shift her corset so it would fit more comfortably.

_These Hylians need a better fashion sense._

* * *

><p>Another knock came to Link's front door late in the evening. Link hadn't heard it, as he was asleep in his study. He had sent off his response to Zelda a few hours earlier, and with the free time he had, he was going to use it to read. However, his eyes became droopy, and he fell asleep in a matter of minutes. It was his butler that woke him up by knocking on his door.<p>

"Sir Link, are you still in there?" His butler asked. Link raised his head up from his folded arms, rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes.

"Mm?" He said, still half-asleep. "Yeah, yeah. I'm still here. What is it?"

His butler opened the door and stepped in. "Letter for you, sir." He set the letter down in front of Link and promptly left the room. Link fumbled with the letter, trying to figure out where the opening was through his still-tired eyes. Eventually he caught hold of the envelope's opening and tore it off, reaching in and pulling out the letter. He wiped the tiredness from his eyes again and began to read. The letter itself was no more than a few sentences long.

_Dear Link,_

_The boar I saw was very large, with dark grey fur, and human-like hands & feet. It had a red-orange mane & tail, and it had tusks as large as those of an elephant. There was a long white cut down its stomach._

_I hope you can find the answer for this. When you do, see me immediately. _

_Love,_

_Zelda_

Link read through the letter over and over again, making sure that what he read was indeed the same message that was on the page. The words never changed, and Link realized for the first time since Zelda had first told him of her dream that it was not a dream at all. It was indeed a vision, and obviously one of the near future. Link flipped through Zelda's other letter, which described her entire dream, and connected all of the little pieces together to solve the mystery of this boar.

The revival portal would appear, signaling the resurrection of the Dark Lord. A dragon would burn through the kingdom to pave the way for him, and through the flames he would leap into action, devouring the land in war and chaos. The aftermath wasn't what entirely concerned Link, however. It was, mainly, the very resurrection of Ganondorf himself.

_Wait. Didn't Zelda say it was also possible for... Oh, goddesses._

Wide awake now, Link leapt up from his desk and grabbed the Master Sword off of his wall, bolting out of his study without saying anything. He made sure to get his winter coat from his coat closet before stepping outside and trying to run through the deep snow towards the Castle. It was dark out, but the torches surrounding the city center lit up his path. It was the current snowstorm that had picked up before he left that hindered his vision. He squinted through the walls of snow that blew in front of him and across his face, following the lights of the four torches that lined the entrance to the Castle's courtyard. The wind blew hard, trying to push him backwards, and soon he was forced to pull out his Iron Boots from his pouch and put them on to avoid flying backwards.

Link continued to push his way through the wind over the bridge and into the Castle Courtyard, where the winds and snow were significantly calmer. He took his Iron Boots back off and finished his short trek up to the Castle doors, where he was stopped by two guards.

"I'm sorry, Sir Link." One of the guards said. "But the Queen cannot see anyone this late. You'll have to come back tomorrow." Link pulled out Zelda's most recent letter and handed it to the guard, who read it over and over before he continued. "What kind of game is the Queen playing now?" He asked, chuckling. Link frowned.

"It is no game." He said, speaking like the noble he wished he wasn't. "It is official business regarding the safety of Hyrule. Unless you two are simply stupid, you would already know that the Queen holds the Triforce of Wisdom, unless the Triforce Guardian has need of it. Because she holds this relic, she is subject to visions of the past, present, and future. She has seen a vision of the boar she has described in this letter, and has asked me personally to bring the meaning of the boar to her, whether it be late in the evening, early in the morning, midday, or midnight. I intend to comply." Link mentally kicked himself again for getting appointed as a noble; he hated speaking like that. The guards looked at him, quite puzzled, and finally they handed back the letter and stepped out of the way. Link gratefully nodded to them and entered the Castle. He remembered the one path he knew to the Throne Room and started up the stairs to the second floor of the Castle.

* * *

><p>Zelda leaned back in her chair, sighing with relief after finishing her daily work. She looked out the window at the blinding snowstorm that blew over the land. She couldn't see anything outside, and so she diverted her attention to her bookshelves. She spotted a book that she found quite interesting, and got up to retrieve it. She didn't take more than two steps before a knock came to her door. She groaned quietly.<p>

"Come in." She said. The door opened, and Link stepped in, his winter coat glazed with melting snowflakes. His face was red and his eyes were watering quite a lot. Zelda rushed over to him, her mind a sudden flurry of excitement. "Oh, Link, you must be freezing!" She said, taking him by the hand and leading him over to a warm fire. She helped him take off his winter coat and handed it to her advisor, who took it and left the room. Link warmed his hands over the fire while Zelda ordered one of her maids to make some hot tea for them. She returned to his side and sat in the chair next to him. "You got my letter?"

"I d-did." Link replied, still shivering. He was slowly warming up. "I f-figured it all out." Zelda leaned closer, eager for his answer. He stayed quiet for a moment before continuing. He told her of how the boar was actually Ganondorf in his bestial form, and that the revival portal was actually a gateway between the Evil Realm and the Light World. He told her of how the dragon would start the destruction of Hyrule, and that Ganondorf would emerge from the flames and finish the job.

"But that's not all." Link continued. "There's a chance Zant and the Black Mesa will be among Ganondorf's resurrected followers." He stared into the fire, watching as the flames danced around in the hearth. Zelda pondered the information Link had just delivered, and shuddered to think of what other evil men could emerge from the portal. There were so many possibilities, as there had been many evil men in Hyrule's history.

"When do you think this war will start?" She asked. Link sighed.

"It could happen at any time." He replied. "We must be ready. We're at our weakest point with all of this bloody snow, so it would be best to make sure the Castle is well protected. More than likely, the enemy will target here first." He stood up to leave, but Zelda stopped him.

"Don't go out there again." She pleaded. "It's too dark and cold, and that blizzard will freeze you to death. I'll have my maids prepare a room for you for the night." Link nodded and sat back down just as Zelda's maid came in with a tray carrying two cups of hot tea. She set the tray down on a table in between them, bowed to Zelda, and left without a word. Zelda picked up her cup and sipped the tea carefully, making sure not to spill on her dress. Link held his cup in his lap and watched the fire, and for a second he thought he saw people inside the flames. He looked closer into the fire, and was able to make out the images of two people dueling each other. One of them, he realized, was him. The other he recognized as his late cousin, Kyrus. He watched the hallucinations duel each other until the fire Kyrus flew away after being struck by Link's fire self. The image switched to Link's fire self watching as the fire Kyrus fell from the balcony.

"Are you alright?" Zelda asked, causing Link to snap back to attention.

"Mm? Oh, yeah. I'm alright. I was just thinking." He looked down at his tea, which had cooled somewhat. He took a sip. "Mm, good tea. Thank you."

"My pleasure." She replied. The two of them continued to sit in silence, occasionally sipping their tea. Both of their minds were trained on what was to come. They thought of the wars in the past - including their battles against the Alkorians - and worried about the war that was to come. Neither of them had any idea when exactly the war would begin, which worried them even more. To make matters even worse, Ganondorf would be among the enemy, with Zant, the Black Mesa, and many others following behind him. All Link and Zelda knew was that this war was indeed supernatural - an inter-dimensional battle between the forces of good and evil.

Finally, Zelda broke the silence. "We'll double the amount of guards here in the city." She said. "Let's try to stay positive and cheerful during this season. I don't want the people to worry about anything."

"Fine." Link agreed. "But I'm not sure how cheerful I'll be when I have to walk around in a leotard and tights."


	5. Chapter 4: The Celebration Begins

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER FOUR: The Celebration Begins_

*Three days later*

Link grumbled to himself as he struggled to get his legs through his tights; he had already had enough troubles getting the leotard on. His feet kept getting stuck in a tangle of the elastic fabric, and he had to constantly reach down and pull his foot out of the mess. When he finally had both of his feet through the leggings, he pulled them up and around his waist, then proceeded to put the cape over his shoulder. The cape was the only part of the outfit he really liked.

A knock came to his bedroom door as he began strapping the boots on. He bade the person entry, and his butler stepped in, carrying a cutlass sword. Link raised an eyebrow as his eyes fell on the magnificent blade.

"What's that for?" He asked.

"A man from Ordon Village sent it to you." His butler answered. "He said it was one of the most difficult swords he has ever had to make."

Link automatically knew who it was that had sent the blade. Rusl was more skilled in creating broadswords and longswords, which were usually used by the Hylian Knights. But crafting a cutlass was a whole new level of sword-making for Rusl, and Link figured it must have taken several tries to get it just right. He told hold of the sword - which was sheathed inside a silver-and-white scabbard - and examined the craftsmanship. It was definitely Rusl's handiwork.

"I'll be sure to send him my thanks." He said, strapping the sword to his belt. He noticed a maid walk up behind the butler and quickly bow her head.

"Sorry to disturb you, m'lord." She said. "But there's someone here to see you." Link nodded, and followed her and his butler down to the front door, where he saw his long-time friend standing in the doorway, wearing an eloquent black-and-blue dress. Her orange hair was in a similar style as Zelda's traditional hairdo, and she wore a silver tiara on her head. She smiled as Link came into view.

"Midna?" Link asked, utterly surprised that she had even shown up from the Twilight Realm. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm one of Zelda's favored guests." Midna said. "She invited me to come to the party, as long as I brought a Hylian nobleman with me. I'm here to pick you up."

"Ah." Link said. He pulled his winter coat out of his coat closet and put it on over his outfit. He was about to get a coat for Midna, but she stopped him.

"I don't need one." She said. "The Twilight Realm is a lot colder than this." Link nodded in agreement, remembering the few times he himself had been under the cloud of Twilight. He held out his arm, and Midna gratefully took it. The two of them stepped outside into the chilly winter air and began walking up towards the Castle. "By the way," Midna said. "You look ridiculous."

"I _feel_ ridiculous." Link agreed. "I hate noble fashion."

"Oh, get over it. It's only temporary, right?"

"Thank the goddesses for that."

* * *

><p>Cia stepped into the line of nobles walking up to the Castle, keeping her crow's mask over her face. She knew that some nobles wore masks for such celebrations, and thus she thought it best to hide her identity by wearing one as well. This way, she would be able to execute her little plan without anyone identifying her. The only problem was, she didn't know who it was she was going after besides the Queen. It could be any of the younger noblemen. The only way to identify him was the Triforce mark on the back of his hand, and there were a lot of young noblemen's hands around.<p>

_This is going to be harder than I thought._

After a series of walking up shoveled paths, four sets of stairs, and ten to fifteen pairs of doors, all of the nobles stepped into the Throne Room, where the feast was being prepared. As each noble walked in, his or her name was called out by a short, stocky man with a list. Cia realized she had to do something fast in order to get in, and so she waved her hand gently to temporary mesmerize the man. He waited until after the noble pair before her entered before he called out her name. Cia waved her hand again, causing the nobles to think she was one of them. She took a seat next to the couple that were in front of her, and she looked around for any sign of her second target. She avoided eye contact with the Queen, who watched her suspiciously, but didn't say anything. Suddenly, she heard a pair of noble names that attracted her attention.

"Presenting Her Majesty, Queen Zelda's favored guests. Her Royal Highness, Princess Midna of the Twilight Realm, and His Lordship, Sir Link of Ordon Village." The man called out. Cia looked up at the two that were just now entering. Her eyes immediately went to the hands of the nobleman, and sure enough, the mark of the Triforce was clearly visible on the back of his right hand. She smiled slightly.

_Perhaps it was easier than I imagined. Now I know who to look for._

She watched as the two of them sat down on either side of the Queen: Midna on her right, and Link on her left. The Queen remained quiet until the last two nobles had been called out. "Presenting His Lordship, General Ken of the Hylian Army, and Her Ladyship, Mistress Lana of CastleTown." Cia's eyes widened behind her mask, and she looked up at the last two nobles entering the Throne Room. She frowned.

_What is _she _doing here?_

The Queen waited until the General and his partner had sat down before she stood up and tapped her glass with a spoon. The room fell silent.

"Ladies and gentlemen," She began. "What a magnificent turnout to the beginning of this year's Christmas Celebration. As many of you may know, this year marks the two hundred and twenty-fifth annual Christmas Celebration, and so we have spared no expense in bringing only the best of food, decoration, and music for this occasion." She looked around at the nobles, eventually turning her head to the left to glance down at Link. "However, this could not be possible without the help of the great ancestor of our beloved Hero of Twilight. As you know, it was the Hero of Time who organized this special occasion two hundred and twenty-five years ago. Let us remember that he only did this after starting an era of peace in Hyrule. Peace, of course, can only come from trial, tribulation, and sacrifice, and the Hero of Time did just that. And now, our own Hero of Twilight has done it himself twice." She picked up her glass and raised it high in the air. "To the Chosen Heroes of Hyrule, both past and present."

"To the Chosen Heroes of Hyrule." The nobles all agreed, raising their glasses in a similar fashion.

* * *

><p>In the background, joyful music played as food was passed around the table to each noble. The conversation was loud, and the nobles were simply having a good time socializing. Link, Midna, and Zelda were caught up in their own conversation, talking and laughing as the night went on. Each of them were comfortable in each other's company, and Link himself forgot how ridiculously he was dressed. He was too busy enjoying the evening.<p>

As the feast drew to a close, and servants prepared the Throne Room for the Christmas Ball, Link saw out of the corner of his eye a guard running up to where Ken was sitting, whispering something in his ear. Link tried tuning in to the conversation by redirecting his hearing, but the General immediately stood up and followed the guard out of the Throne Room. Link watched them leave, and was about to return to his own conversation when Ken came back into the room, a worried look on his face. He walked over to his place and tapped his glass with a spoon, causing the room to go silent.

"Ladies and gentlemen," He said. He glanced at the Queen and bowed his head. "Your Majesty. I'm very sorry to disturb this evening, but there's a situation going on outside which I'd prefer not to leave you all so vulnerable to. I've asked my Captain of the Guard to lead you all out of the Throne Room and down to the safe house underneath the Castle, where you will be staying until this issue is resolved. Do not panic, the Hylian Army has this all under control. Please exit the Throne Room in an orderly fashion. Thank you." Immediately, the nobles all stood up and began following the Captain of the Guard into a room behind the Throne and down a long flight of stairs. Link was about to follow when he noticed one of the noblewomen running out through the main doors. He bolted after her, running through the crowd of nobles without giving a second thought to the Hylian guards watching him and leaving their positions to retrieve him. He burst through the main doors, passing the General, and followed the noblewoman down the stairs, calling out for her.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "Get back with the other nobles!" Out of nowhere, the noblewoman flung a small knife out at him, which he easily dodged. "Hey! What was-" He had no time to finish before she disappeared before his very eyes. He stood utterly bewildered for a moment, snapping back to attention when a guard grabbed his shoulder and tried to lead him back up to the Throne Room. Link reached out with his elbow and struck the guard in the nose, knocking him down. Ken saw this, and vaulted over the ledge down onto the balcony, drawing his sword.

"What was that for?" He demanded. "You're supposed to be with the other nobles!" Link glared at him and drew his own sword.

"You forget," He said, smiling. "I'm still the Hero of Twilight. You wanna fight me? Let's go, right now." He lunged forward, striking Ken's blade with his own. Ken remained on defense, blocking each one of Link's attacks. Link swept his blade left and right, over and under, eventually locking blades with Ken. He swirled his sword around, the two metal blades scratching against each other until Link finally managed to push Ken's arm to the side and put his own sword to his throat. "You've lost. Do you yield?"

"Not yet." Ken said, ducking as Link swung his blade. He swung his own at Link's legs, hoping to land a blow, but Link jumped out of the way just in time and sent his fist flying. His knuckles connected with Ken's face, causing him to stagger backwards to recuperate. He held his sword with two hands, did a little spin, and clashed with Link once again. The two of them swung at each other, blades scratching each other as they seemed to dance around the balcony. Eventually they locked blades again, pushing their swords against each other with all of their might.

"Your swordplay is pretty advanced." Link commented. "But you're lacking something important."

"And that would be...?" Ken said, expecting Link to simply tell him.

"Your..." Link started. He sent his foot forward, kicking both of Ken's feet out from under him and bringing him down to the ground. "...Footwork!" He finished. Ken groaned as his back slammed into the hard pavement. Link knelt down and grabbed him by his tunic, glaring into his eyes. "Next time you want to fight me, you'd better get your footwork together. Otherwise you'll just wind up like this every time." He slammed his head into the ground, and Ken's vision faded to black. Link stood up and looked down at Ken's unconscious form, then turned back to guard he had downed earlier. An idea began to form in his head, and as he put it into action, he could hear the sounds of gunshots and clashing blades echoing from outside the Southern Gates of CastleTown.

_I've got to move fast._


	6. Chapter 5: The Battle For CastleTown

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER FIVE: The Battle for CastleTown_

Link felt much more comfortable now that he was out of his leotard and tights and in a guard's uniform. The guard was a lieutenant in rank, so he would have some authority over the soldiers. He was also glad that lieutenants wore capes like the one he had; he didn't want to leave it behind. Now that he was in his disguise, he picked up the unconscious guard's body and took it back into the Throne Room, where he hid it behind a pillar. He was about to leave when he noticed the guard still had a sword and shield on his back. He rolled the guard over and unhooked the weapons, mounting them on his own back and leaving the Throne Room.

Link crashed through door after door as he raced down the stairs to the first floor of the Castle. His feet skipped four stairs at once on each staircase, and he was running faster than he had ever gone before. By the time he had made it outside, he was practically hovering over the shoveled walkway that led down into the city. Finally, he was forced to slow down as he entered the city. The snow was not fully shoveled, and there were still streets that were lined with foot-deep snow, some of it deeper due to the stuff on the rooftops. He waded his way through the snow to the battle at the Southern Gate, where he could already see soldiers running around, trying to get to other weapons or keeps. Orders were being shouted everywhere, and one was even directed at him as he entered the scene.

"Lieutenant!" One of the soldiers called. "Get up here, we need an attack plan!" Link looked up at the man who had shouted at him. He was a sergeant, by the looks of the rank printed on his armor. Link obeyed his order and climbed a nearby ladder to get up to the keep. Inside the tiny room, the sergeant, another lieutenant, and a commander stood around a map of the Southern part of CastleTown's border. They were muttering to each other about what they should do. When they saw Link enter, they didn't recognize who he was because of he helmet, and instead asked him to give them a battle plan.

"You're our best strategist, Lieutenant Forrest." The commander said. "So what plan can you think of to help us?" Link had no idea who the enemy was, and he didn't want to ask. Then again, this 'Lieutenant Forrest' soldier had been up at the Castle with the General the entire time, while the Captain of the Guard was the one who had entered the room during the feast.

"What are we up against?" Link asked.

"Hordes of Bokoblins, a few dozen of those ugly lizard-men, and three sorcerers." The commander said. Link frowned when he heard 'sorcerers'. He knew exactly who the commander was talking about. He put the thought aside and focused more on the armies that stood against them.

"Bokoblins and Lizalfos." He said. "For one thing, Bokoblins are stupid. They think that traveling in packs makes them tougher. But while they're still unarmored, they're good with swords. Use bows, guns, cannons, whatever long-range weapons you've got to take them out. Cannons will deal more damage to the horde itself."

"And the Lizalfos?" The other lieutenant asked. "They've got these huge iron gauntlets that they use to protect themselves with."

"Well, I can't blame them. They're a lot smarter and quicker than Bokoblins, that's for sure." Link looked around at the three soldiers, who were listening carefully to his words. "Anyway, to deal with Lizalfos, you're going to need to do some damage to those gauntlets. Bomb arrows will work best, as they're explosive upon impact."

"Ahem," The sergeant said, clearing his throat. "Here's the problem: The hordes just keep coming. We can see the end of them all the time, but the numbers never seem to shrink. We've killed hundreds of monsters already, but they just keep coming." Link took this into consideration. He remembered the sorcerers that the commander was talking about, and immediately he had an idea.

"Do what I told you to do about the monsters." He said to the sergeant. He looked at the commander and the other lieutenant. "You two give me some cover. I'm going to see what I can do about those sorcerers." The soldiers all nodded in agreement, and immediately the sergeant started barking orders again. Link led the commander and the other lieutenant out of the keep they were in and over to the other side of the Gate. He climbed up to the top of the keep, then reached down and asked for the lieutenant's bow and bomb arrows. The lieutenant quickly handed the weapons over to him, and Link immediately slung the quiver over his shoulder and loaded an arrow. He drew back the bowstring, looking around for the place that the sorcerers would be stationed. He found them standing atop a flat rock, and aimed for their feet. He let the arrow fly, watching as it zoomed over the heads of the Bokoblins, who didn't seem to notice at all. The arrow hit his target and did almost exactly what he'd hoped it would do: It blew the rock up from under the sorcerers' feet, sending them flying in different directions. It did not, however, kill them.

* * *

><p>Volga staggered as he stood back up, his ears still ringing from the blast that had just hit the rock he, Cia, and Wizzro had been standing on. He shook his head and looked around the area to find out where the blast had originated from. His vision was blurry from the sudden attack, making it difficult for him to see where he was going and what he was doing.<p>

Cia, meanwhile, leaned up against a rock and looked up at the soldier sitting atop the Keep farthest from them. Fortunately for her, her vision was not as blurred as Volga's, and she was able to get a closer look at the soldier. His right hand glowed with the mark of the Triforce, and she knew exactly who he was. Unfortunately, she had only just noticed the mark when she saw the image of another bomb arrow flying in her direction. She had about a split second to raise a magical barrier to protect herself with, and even that didn't help much as the arrow shattered it upon impact and blew her backwards into Volga, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

"What are you trying to do?" Volga asked angrily. Cia pushed herself off him.

"My job!" She snapped. "It would've been done by now if you hadn't let the army in so suddenly."

"It's not my fault the army has brains the size of a grain of sand!"

"What did you want me to do, conjure Darknuts? That'd wear me out! I'm having enough trouble conjuring an endless amount of Bokoblins as it is!"

"If you two are finished arguing," Wizzro hissed as he conjured dark versions of Lizalfos. "We should just let the army wear itself out. There's nothing we can do about that gate for now." He stopped conjuring and snapped his fingers, disappearing immediately. Cia nodded to Volga and followed suit, leaving the dragon man alone with the monsters. He thought for a moment on whether or not he should really give up, but then a brilliant idea popped into his head.

* * *

><p>Link watched the entire battlefield, searching for two of the sorcerers. They had magically teleported somewhere else, leaving only the dragon man behind. His eyes scanned the battlefield, trying to find out where the woman and the wizard had disappeared to, but all he could see was a horde of ugly monsters and...<p>

"RRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRR!"

Coming up the path from the Southern Hyrule Field, a massive dragon-type creature stomped its way up towards the Gate, crushing any monsters that stood in its path. All of the soldiers watched, completely bewildered, as the creature stepped out onto the battlefield. Suddenly a command rang out, and immediately hundreds of bomb arrows flew out at the creature, each one failing to hurt the monster or even hit it. It seemed to have some kind of thick, protective armor on its body. The creature took a deep breath, causing its entire body to glow a fiery orange. Link immediately knew what this creature was about to do, and leapt down from the Keep and ran towards the center of the Gate wall. From there, he pushed himself off the ledge and hopped across the pillars that lined the stairs up to the Gate, then lunged forward off the last pillar, arming a bomb arrow and firing it into the creature's mouth. The arrow exploded inside the creature's throat, causing it to lose its strength and collapse to the ground just as Link landed on the ground in front of it. The creature tried to get back up, but Link stuck a bomb arrow in the creature's head armor and lit it, moving just far enough back to avoid the explosion force and the blast radius. The creature's blood and brains littered the battlefield, reaching ever so close to where Link was standing. He watched as the remainder of the hordes of monsters turned and ran off, leaving only himself and the dragon man standing outside the Gate. The two of them glared at each other through their helmets. All of the soldiers atop the Gate were quiet as they watched the two stare each other down.

"I hear you're the legend of the kingdom." The dragon man taunted. "The 'Hero of Twilight'. That _is _what they call you, right?"

"Yeah." Link replied. He could feel the soldiers' eyes suddenly trained on him, shocked to learn of his real identity. "Yeah, I'm the Hero. I'm the legend. I'm the guy mothers tell their kids to be like, unlike you. You're the villain. You'll always be at a disadvantage." He was pleased with his own taunts, but his opponent was not so amused.

"You think I can't win?" The dragon man held out his hand, and in it appeared a fiery broadsword. "You think, because I'm the villain, I will lose? Tell me, '_Hero_'," He spat the word out like poison. "Where is my disadvantage?"

"You're all the same." Link said. "You lack conviction. You lack honor. You lack virtue, you lack value, you lack nobility. I could go on, but I don't have the time or the patience to explain the whole list." He drew his own sword and directed the blade at him. "So what's it going to be? Are you going to be a coward and fight me? Or are you going to accept your defeat and walk away?"

"You fool yourself." The dragon man said, stepping forward. "I have already won. En garde!" He lunged forward, blade pointed at Link. Link drew his shield from his back and raised it in the air, protecting himself from the fiery blade. He swung out with his own sword, catching the man's unprotected side. The man stepped back, clutching his wound and growling. He swung out again, but Link sidestepped the blade and hit the back of the man's neck with the pommel of his sword. The man stumbled forward and fell on his stomach, cursing into the ground. He weakly stood back up and glared at Link, clenching his teeth and fists. "What... what are you?"

"I go by another name," Link said, pulling off his helmet. His blonde hair came out messy from underneath the helmet, and his face started to freeze from the cold air. His hair began to turn white and grow longer - almost into a mane - and red & blue markings began appearing on his face. His eyes glowed a pale white, and his height increased almost a whole foot. Soon he was towering over the dragon man. "Some call me Oni." From his mouth came a wolf's roar, and he bore a set of fangs that sent a wave of fear into the hearts of not only the dragon man, but all of the soldiers watching. His roar grew louder, and on his right hand appeared the entire mark of the Triforce. The dragon man stepped back a bit and snapped his fingers, disappearing before Oni's eyes. The deity ceased his roaring and turned to the soldiers, who were all quivering in fear. He closed his eyes, and immediately transformed back into his human form before walking back up to the Gate. He clutched his forehead, groaning as a splitting headache began to form.

_I'd better only transform when I need to._


	7. Chapter 6: Confronting the Mayor

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER SIX: Confronting The Mayor_

Link sat in his study, staring at his desk. His mind was elsewhere, pondering over the events that had happened the night before. The sudden attack on CastleTown, his quick defeat of the giant creature, and his duels with Ken and the dragon man. He had been frustrated over how quickly war had come to Hyrule once again, and was trying to find a way to deal with the endless hordes of monsters. The Hylian soldiers were good when working as an entire army, but alone and in small groups they were easily defeated. His mind drifted back to the tactics of the Black Mesa. Alone, they were powerful, but when they were all together, they were near unstoppable. Ideas began forming in Link's mind, and soon his eyes lit up with one idea that topped all others.

_I need a team of elites._

Grabbing a blank sheet of paper and a pen, along with the Master Sword and Hylian Shield mounted on his wall, Link exited his study and walked down to his front door, where a maid greeted him with his winter coat.

"Going out, m'lord?" She asked, putting his winter coat on for him.

"Yes." Link said. "I'll be back later this evening. James is in charge." He glanced over at his butler, who bowed respectfully.

"I shall do my best to keep the house in order while you are away." He said. Link nodded, then turned and left the house. Guards were busy shoveling the new coat of snow off the streets, and not many people were walking around today. Link figured they were all shook up from the news about the battle. The Queen had been informed by the sergeant about it, and in return she relayed the information to the people. Link thought it was nice for a change in the activity in the city. It was usually bustling with people, but now it was eerily quiet, and Link liked it.

He made his way through the un-shoveled streets of Southern CastleTown, his eyes occasionally darting from right to left as poor peasants went in and out of their homes to visit neighbors or ask passing guards for money. None of them noticed him, and he walked quietly down the steps to Telma's bar. A big, fluffy white cat sat outside the door of the bar, scratching to get in. Link opened the door for her and waited for her to walk in. She meowed gratefully and pranced into the bar, hopping up onto the counter. Telma, her owner, scratched the back of her neck and smiled. She looked up when she heard Link shut the door.

"Hey, hon." She said. "Want a drink?" She reached down to get a mug. Link shook his head.

"No, thanks," He said. "I'm here for other reasons." Telma put the mug back and leaned up against the counter, a serious look on her face.

"So, what do you need?" She asked. Link placed the sheet of paper and the pen out in front of him, looking back at Telma with an equally serious stare.

"I'm putting together an elite team of warriors from all over Hyrule together." Link explained. "Only the best and most trusted of people can join, and I want you, Ashei, Rusl, and Shad to be a part of it." Telma sighed, rubbing her temples with her hands. "Look, Telma. I know the Alkorian War wore you and the others out, but I'd rather have you on the team than Ken."

"I never said I didn't want to be a part of it." Telma said. "I'm just overwhelmed by the fact that Hyrule's been getting hit with war after war after war. Can't we just have even a moment's peace?" She took the pen and signed her name on the paper, then handed the items back to Link. "If you want to know where Shad and Ashei are, check Ordon. Last I heard, they've been helping Rusl run the place."

"Thanks, Telma." Link said, turning to leave. He paused. "Oh, and I know Midna comes here on occasion. If you see her, tell her I'm in Ordon. I'd like her to join as well."

"Will do, hon." Telma said. "You be careful, now. There's another storm coming." Link nodded and left the bar, taking a few steps away from the door. He looked up at the streets above him, making sure no one was watching. Then he focused his mind on the Ordon Spring, and his entire body disappeared in a wisp of Twilight.

* * *

><p>The first thing Link felt when he reappeared from the Twilit portal was the Ordon Spring water lapping against his boots. As he took in the familiar sight of the Ordon Spring, he remembered how warm it was here, and how there was never any snow in the area. He stepped out of the refreshing water and walked into the woods, where it immediately got colder with the low temperature. The forest roof was thick enough to prevent most of the snow from falling into the area, but there were still chunks of snow scattered along the path.<p>

The air got really cold as he entered the little grove where his old house was. There was a lot of snow that had fallen through the thinner forest roof surrounding the grove, and the wind was blowing from the south. Link raised his coat hood to help keep his head warm, but his face was already turning red as he walked down the path to the village.

As he entered, he barely dodged a snowball zipping towards his face. He looked in the direction from where it came, and saw a half-mischievous, half-surprised look on Talo's face as he rounded another snowball. He grinned widely. "Hey!" He yelled out. "Link's back!" Out of nowhere, a snowball pelted him in the face, causing him to fall backwards into the snow.

"Take _that,_ Talo!" Beth yelled. She was standing behind a large wall of snow outside Talo's house, ducking back to cover as another snowball flew over her head. She didn't seem to notice Link, and instead launched another snowball in the direction of what Link later realized was Colin, who had cried out after being hit with it. Beth briefly celebrated her victory, only to get smacked with a snowball that was launched from the roof of the Mayor's house. Soon a small head peeked out from the rooftop, only to quickly duck back down. Link watched the rooftop for a moment, his hand slowly reaching for the shield on his back. He knew Malo - and he knew it was Malo because he was the only kid he hadn't seen yet - was going to throw a snowball at him. Sure enough, the snowball came arching up through the air and down towards Link, who quickly raised his shield to defend himself against it. The snowball landed on the metal shield with a splat, breaking into millions of tiny particles of snow. He watched Malo's head peek up and duck down a second time, and suddenly he had an idea.

He mounted his shield on his back again and knelt down to create a quick snowball. He felt another splat from Malo's second snowball that had been thrown at him, which had landed on the part of his coat that again covered his shield. He stood up and watched Malo's head duck a third time, mentally marking his target, and launching the snowball. It flew up and over the rooftop, and suddenly a small cry was heard. Malo stepped out from behind his post, rubbing his head.

"Well, that wasn't pleasant." He said. "You've been gone so long, I've forgotten how well you can actually throw."

"I've had my share of practice out in Snowpeak." Link said, chuckling. At the sound of his voice, Beth and Colin appeared from their posts, screaming his name when they saw him. Link glanced down at Talo, who still lay in the snow and was muttering "Were you guys even listening?" as Beth hopped over him and rushed to greet Link. The two of them almost jumped on him, but the weight of his coat and weapons was enough to keep him from falling backwards. Talo finally stood up and joined the group hug, and soon Malo as well. Link looked down at each of them. "You got big."

"So did my business." Malo pointed out. "I've expanded to so many parts of the world now."

"I was referring to all of you," Link said. "But congratulations, Malo."

"When did you get back?" Beth asked.

"About five minutes ago. I'm here on important business, so I won't be here long."

"Awww." The children said, frowning.

"Let me guess," Malo said. "You're working with The Nobility? That shop is really hindering my business with the nobles in CastleTown."

"Huh? No, not The Nobility." Link corrected. "No, it's just military business. Secret stuff, so I don't want you guys saying anything." Each of the children nodded in agreement. Link looked over at Colin. "Is your dad around?"

"No," Colin said. "He's in Faron Woods with a couple of his friends from CastleTown. They went hunting or something."

"Ah, so that's why Malo was on the Mayor's roof." He said. Malo grinned mischievously. Link glanced up at the Mayor's house, frowning when he saw the dilapidated state it was in. Bo had not been taking care of himself or the house for two years, and Link could already tell some of the damage was from termites. He sighed and excused himself from the children's company, walking up to the house. He didn't bother knocking; Bo was probably too upset to care.

Link grimaced at the smell of the place; Dried alcohol, body odor, rotten food, et cetera. He looked down into the sumo wrestling chamber, where Bo was slumped in the ring with a bottle of whiskey in his hands. Angry, Link grabbed a nearby bucket of water and carried it down into the chamber, dumping it on Bo's face. Bo jumped up in the air, cursing wildly and waving his bottle around, the whiskey flying everywhere. Link stepped forward and slapped him across the face.

"Wake up." He demanded. Bo looked at him, a look of surprise on his face. "You've been drinking your woes away for too long. You've left Rusl and probably Fado to take care of the village while you wallow away in your own filth." Bo didn't reply. He was still waking up. "This is not how the Mayor of Ordon should live. Drinking and sobbing day and night won't bring Ilia back. She would be furious with your behavior." At the mentioning of his daughter's name, Bo's eyes welled up with tears, and he began to sob loudly. Link slapped him again. "Stop crying! I don't care how upset you are, you're letting me and this entire village down just by laying here in your own piss!" Bo didn't seem to listen, and started shouting his daughter's name. Link became furious and let out a wolf-like roar, startling Bo and bringing him to his senses. Link's head began to throb from the roar.

"Did you just-" Bo started.

"-Yes, I did." Link snapped. "You need to wake up and be a man. I had to deal with Ilia's death too, but I didn't drink my sorrows away for two years. No, I had panic attacks for weeks. I relived the horror of seeing her death over and over and over. But you know what?" He glared into Bo's teary eyes. "I got over it. I let it all go and moved on. You need to do the same." Link turned and left the chamber without another word, leaving Bo to think about what he had said. The Mayor sat down on the edge of the ring, looking at the whiskey bottle in his hand. He threw it across the room, letting it shatter against the wall as he buried his face in his hands.


	8. Chapter 7: Snowballs and Wanted Posters

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER SEVEN: Snowballs and Wanted Posters_

As Link exited the Mayor's house, he was met with an oncoming snowball, which he quickly dodged. The kids had started their game again, and now that he had returned, they wanted him to play with them. He ducked out of the way as another snowball from Talo whipped over his head. He had no fort to protect himself with, and so he pulled his shield off his back and used it to defend against both Talo's and Malo's snowballs. Malo had himself a well-placed fort, which kept him from getting pelted with snowballs from almost anyone that was against him. Talo, however, was wide open, and he didn't see Beth peg him across the back of his head with a snowball. Link waited for Malo to throw his next snowball before he crafted his own. He noticed Malo's fort was hidden from the view of all of the other forts surrounding it, but as Link drew closer, he could see Malo's stash of ready-to throw snowballs behind one wall, and Malo himself behind another. Taking careful aim, he launched the snowball high in the air, watching it arch downward and clock Malo on the top of his head. He looked down at Link from his fort, frowning and mumbling to himself. He sat down and waited for the game to finish.

As Link searched for a plan to defeat Beth, he heard the crack of hard snow breaking underneath someone's foot and whirled around, raising his shield in the air. Colin threw the snowball too late, and it crashed into Link's shield. He retreated towards his fort, but Link had already crafted, thrown, and hit him with a snowball by the time he reached the wall. Link walked up to him and knelt down.

"So, when someone gets hit, they're out?" He asked. Colin nodded in agreement. "So is there a way to get Beth without Malo's height advantage?"

"Unless you're super sneaky," Colin said. "There's no way to get her. She camps inside her fort and watches for anyone that's easily vulnerable. Talo always forgets where she is, so he's always getting hit by her. You'll want to be really quiet." Link nodded, then looked around for strategic places to sneak around with. Finding none, he looked up at the rock wall that surrounded the village, then to the gate up to the ranch. He grinned, and left Colin's side for the gate and climbed up. He moved as far back as he could to avoid detection, then snuck up to the edge above where he assumed Beth would be. He peered over the side, looking directly at the top of Beth's head. So far, she was unaware of his presence. He knelt down and crafted a snowball, then dropped it over the edge, watching it land on Beth's head. She looked up to see him jump down from his perch and land on his feet, rolling to avoid getting hurt. He smiled as he stood back up, mounting his shield back in its place. Beth frowned.

"How do you always manage to win?" She asked. "Every winter, in every round, you always seem to win. How?"

"Beth," Link said, chuckling. "You forget I'm a war veteran. Strategy is pretty much a second language to me."

"Whatever." Beth started making a pile of snowballs. "We'll wait while you set up your fort for the next round." Link nodded and left Beth's territory, passing Talo's fort and climbing up a rock pillar. He had nothing else to do but wait for Rusl, Shad, and Ashei to return from their hunting trip, and so he figured it would be good to spend some time with the children. Immediately he began building up the walls of his fort, using the angles of the children's forts and the deep snow to his advantage. As he built his fort, he noticed out of the corner of his eye a group of Hylian soldiers walking into the village, each of them armed with weapons. Ken was leading them, and he walked up to Talo's fort and looked down at the child.

"Excuse me, kid." He said. "Have you seen this man recently?" He pulled out a sheet of paper with a drawing of Link's face on it. Below the picture said "Wanted: For Assaulting the General of the Hylian Army." Talo looked at the Wanted poster carefully, forming a quick idea in his head.

"Nope." He said. "Haven't seen him. He doesn't come here much. Not after he moved to CastleTown."

"He's not _in _CastleTown." Ken explained. "One of my men says he left for this village earlier this morning. He was at a certain bar in CastleTown before he left."

Atop his perch, Link cursed himself for not being careful. He knew Ken would get to him for beating him unconscious the night before, but he had no idea any of the Hylian soldiers were even in the bar when he visited Telma, which obviously must have just been a spy. Otherwise, Link would have immediately been arrested on site.

"Well, he's not here." Talo repeated. "At least, not anymore. Today was the first visit he's had in over a year, and as soon as he came, he left. He's probably on his way back to CastleTown by now." Ken eyed the boy suspiciously, then turned and walked away, his men following behind him. As they were about to exit the village, however, they were stopped by Rusl, Shad, and Ashei, who were just coming back from their hunting trip. Ken told them the same story he had told Talo, but the response was very different.

"Link hasn't been here in over a year." He said. "He usually announces when he's coming, and I haven't heard anything from him."

"Perhaps it's a surprise visit?" Ken suggested. "In any case, he's wanted by the Hylian Army. If you see him, send him and anyone he may be associating with to me right away. This little "elite team" of his will be diminished before this war is over." The General swiftly left the village without another word. Rusl glanced over at Talo, who seemed very proud of his lie. The swordsman walked up to him and knelt down to meet Talo at eye level.

"Do you know something I don't, Talo?" He asked. Talo smiled, glancing up at the top of the rock pillar where Link's fort was perched. Rusl followed his gaze, eying the fort suspiciously. He stepped towards it, not noticing a snowball launch itself over the wall of snow until it hit Ashei in the shoulder. The impact caught her attention, and she looked up just in time to see another snowball hit Shad in the chest. The second snowball Rusl noticed, and he was about to climb up the rock pillar when a third snowball flew from the top and hit Ashei in the stomach. Rusl sighed.

"Alright, who's up there?"

"The question is, who's down there?" Link said from behind the wall. He disguised his voice so as to sound like a noble.

"Come down right now, whoever you are." Rusl ordered, reaching for his sword. "Or do I have to-"

"-Where did you get the coconuts?" Link asked, causing some of the children to giggle.

"Where did I... what?"

"Well, coconuts are tropical. This is a temperate zone."

"Whoever you are, I'm going to ask you two things: One, stop talking nonsense. Two, come down right now or I'll-"

"Oh, Rusl," Ashei said, sounding rather annoyed. She pulled out a small gun from her belt and pointed it up at the fort. "If you don't come out right now, I'm going to pull this trigger and turn the snow red with your blood, yeah?"

"OK, OK," Link said in his regular voice. He stood up from behind his fort and jumped down from the rock pillar. "I was just having a bit of fun." The trio of adults had a mix of surprise, shock, and confusion on each of their faces

"Fun?" Rusl exclaimed. "You came here unannounced, you've got the Hylian Army on your tail for some reason, and you're just having fun?"

"Relax, Rusl. I was just coming by to talk to you, Shad, and Ashei about something. You weren't home, so I decided to to join in the kids' snowball fight. I've already won twice." He glanced over at Talo, who nodded in agreement. Colin and Beth, who had overheard their conversation, repeated the action. Rusl looked around for Malo, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He spotted the youngest of the children climbing down from his perch atop the Mayor's roof, tossing a snowball up and down in his hand. He threw it, aiming for Rusl, but instead it curved and went to Link, who ducked to avoid it. At the same time, he scooped up another snowball and threw it, catching Malo head on and sending him falling backwards into the snow. Malo sighed and wiped the snow off his face, then stood up and walked over to his brother. Rusl glared at both him and Link.

"So what's this little secret team of yours?" He asked Link. Link instantly remembered he had the paper and pen in his coat pocket, and reached in and pulled them out. He held them out to the trio, who eyed the one name on the list: _Telma_.

"You've heard about the battle last night?" Link asked. The three of them nodded. "I'm forming an elite team of warriors to go out and take down the ones responsible for starting this new war we're in. Their armies consist entirely of really stupid monsters, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle."

"So why is the Hylian Army on your tail?" Shad questioned.

"Well," Link started. "It all started like this..." He dove into the entire story, starting from the beginning of the Celebration Feast.

* * *

><p>Cia paced her room furiously, ranting to herself nonstop about her colleagues' failure to follow their plan. The idea was to have Cia infiltrate the Castle as a noble and kill the Queen and the Hero, leaving Volga and Wizzro to prepare the army for when Cia returned with the Triforce. Once she had finished her task, they were to attack the Castle with full force, using the Triforce's power to win the day. Unfortunately, not only did Cia fail to kill either of her targets, but Volga and Wizzro both failed to create a smarter army and keep it from attacking without command.<p>

_I suppose it is partly my fault. I was distracted._

She remembered the noblewoman accompanying the Hylian General, and had instantly recognized her as Lana, Sorceress of Light. Not only was Lana's presence distracting to Cia, but also the very fact that she and Cia had a tainted past disturbed her. She and Cia went way back, all the way to their days as children. They were friends for a very long time, even after the goddesses chose Cia to be the Triforce Guardian. But one day, Lana had told her about a prophecy that was to come to pass. A prophecy that told of a demon taking her power. A wild deity with features of a fierce wolf. It was said this demon would rest inside whomever drew the Guardian Sword, which was the shell that bound the power of the Triforce together. The prophecy foretold that the demon would house itself inside the soul of a Hero, binding itself and the Hero into one being.

Cia wanted to find whomever this Hero was, and devised a plan to eliminate him and whomever else had previously held the Triforce before the coming of the new Guardian. That way, there would be no one else for the Triforce to turn to, and it would be hers forever. But it was this plan that caused her to lose her power and begin the prophecy. It was this plan that tore Cia's heart and made her who she was now. She was once the loyal servant of the goddesses, but with her jealousy of the Hero, the Queen, and the third bearer, she was no more than a monster.

_That will all change. Once this plan comes through, I'll be able to bring the Triforce back to me, and I will become the Guardian again. This time, however, I'll have it forever._


	9. Chapter 8: The Hyrule Warriors

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER EIGHT: The Hyrule Warriors_

"So," Ashei said. "You beat Ken up before a huge battle, impersonated a lieutenant in the Hylian Army, single-handedly killed a King Dodongo and then chased off a man in dragon armor while in your demon form, yeah?" Link had just finished telling his story, and his audience - The Ordon kids, Rusl, Shad, and Ashei - was just now putting the pieces together.

"That about sums it up." Link said, nodding. Rusl put a hand to his forehead and sighed. He shook his head in disbelief; he never pictured Link doing something illegal. He looked up at Link, shocking the Hero when he suddenly smiled. He began to laugh.

"Well," He said. "That may be the most stupid thing you've ever done. But that Wanted poster didn't say you were being sought out for by the Queen herself. Sounded like Ken just wants to arrest you for personal reasons."

"And here I thought Zant was the usurper of power." Link said, recalling the Twili villain from his first adventure. He glanced back down at the paper and pen in his hands, then back up to Rusl. "So, are you three in?" The three of them looked down at the single name on the sheet for a moment before Rusl took the pen and signed his own name. Ashei followed suit, and then Shad. Talo tried reaching up for the pen, but Link quickly pulled it out of his reach. "No, Talo. You're a bit young for this kind of thing. Maybe when you're older."

"Awww," Talo whined. "You adults get to have all the fun." Link knelt down to his level and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, Talo." He said, a serious look on his face. "You're the oldest of the boys, so you've got to help take care of the village. We can't take all of the warriors in Ordon." Talo frowned and looked down at the ground. He muttered what sounded like "OK", which was enough for Link. He stood up to full height and faced his friends. "Meet me at my home in CastleTown tonight, and we'll talk about how to approach this war head-on." The trio nodded, and Link turned and walked up the path away from his village, glancing over at the entrance to Faron Woods. He thought for a moment. He could warp straight to his home right now, avoiding Ken and his men entirely. Or, he could intercept them and teach them a lesson on proper law enforcement. Besides, he was the Hero of Twilight. Technically, Ken was beneath him in status and rank. Why else would the Queen have him as her personal guest for the Christmas Celebration? Having made up his mind, he slipped into the Faron Woods and began following the General and his comrades.

* * *

><p>Ken was deeply infuriated at how Link had managed to slip past him. He had made sure to follow him here, and he knew that Ordon was a dead end. Logically, he should have been able to corner the Hero.<p>

"I'll bet he was hiding somewhere." He said aloud, accidentally speaking his thoughts.

"Actually, yeah, I was." A voice came from above. Ken looked up to see Link sitting on a tree branch that stretched from one side of the path to the other, acting as though nothing in the world was wrong. He swung down from his perch, landing on his feet like a cat. Ken's men drew their swords, anxious to arrest the Hero. Ken smiled, holding out the Wanted poster for Link to see.

"You're under arrest for assaulting me and impersonating a Hylian soldier," He said. "Two crimes I never expected the Hero of Twilight to commit." Link took a good long look at the poster, looking for the place where Zelda would have signed her name. Legally, all Wanted posters had to be signed by the Queen, otherwise the person being hunted for and arrested would have to be reported directly to her after he or she was arrested. Zelda's signature was nowhere on the poster, thus making it an illegitimate exercise of military power. Link smiled inwardly, remembering that no one in Ordon Village had seen Zelda's signature on the poster either.

"You know," Link said. "If you're just looking to get back at me for showing you up at the Christmas Feast last night, an illegal Wanted poster isn't going to help you at all." He stepped closer to the General, eying him curiously. "What do you _really _want from me, Ken?" The General stared back at Link. He began to feel uncomfortable as Link stared him down, and finally he broke eye contact and looked away.

"I just want to be Hyrule's Hero." He admitted. "I want to be the one everyone admires. I want to be the one who saves Hyrule. I want to be you." Link raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What on earth are you talking about?" He asked.

"What I'm saying is, it's time you stepped down from your role as the Hero, and let me take over. After all, I was the one who truly led the Revolution." Link sighed, putting a hand to his forehead in disbelief.

"You just don't get it, do you?" He asked. "I never asked to be the Hero of Twilight. I was forced into that role against my will. I was entrusted with the Triforce of Courage, I was chosen as the wielder of the Master Sword. I _had _to kill Ganondorf, who just so happened to be my uncle. I _had _to kill Kyrus and the Black Mesa. I _had _to protect the Triforce from being put in the wrong hands, and thus I was forced to become the Triforce Guardian, Oni. I _had _to lead your damn Revolution because you were gone, and my father turned out to be a traitor. I _have _to be the Hero. _I _was chosen, and _I _will fulfill my duties until I die. _You _need to understand, Ken, that everything you want to be, I am. Only I can be the Hero of Twilight. Your job is to be the Hylian Army General. Understood?" Ken took in Link's words and processed them in his mind. The Hero was right, Ken couldn't take his role... while he was alive. He drew his sword and directed it towards Link.

"If you have to fulfill your duties as the Hero until your death," He said, gripping his sword tighter. "Then it seems your duties have all been completed."

"Not quite." Link said, drawing only his sword. The two of them lunged forward, locking blades. They pushed against each other, trying to gain the upper hand. Link pushed harder, sending Ken stumbling back. The General recovered quickly, making a vertical swing down on Link, who deflected it easily and kicked at his opponent's legs. Ken saw this coming, and jumped out of the way, swinging horizontally and aiming for Link's neck. Link bent backwards to avoid the blade, then backflipped onto his feet again. Ken attacked again, sending blow after blow at Link. The Hero deflected each one with ease, waiting for the opportune moment to finally strike back. Ken seemed to guard himself quite well, making it increasingly difficult for an opening to be made.

The two of them locked blades again, but this time Ken pushed harder. Instead of stumbling backwards, however, Link sidestepped Ken's blade and kicked his opponent in the back of the head, sending him to the ground. Ken rolled onto his back, crossing his eyes as the point of the Master Sword barely touched his nose. He looked up at the Hero, then at his men behind him, who were all watching in awe.

"So," Link said, staring down at him. "Do you yield?"

"I..." Ken stuttered. "I yield. But my men don't." On cue, Ken's men reached for Link, but the Hero quickly snapped his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of Twilight. Ken growled angrily. One of his men held out an arm to help him up, and he took it. He looked up into the sky, his eyes fixated on the Twilight portal hovering just above the Ordon Spring, his face forming a scowl.

"This isn't over, Link. I _will_ be the Hero."

* * *

><p>Link's dining room was noisier than it usually was, now that half dozen fully-armed warriors sat around the table, chatting loudly. All of them had come just in time for dinner, which was just now being set on the table. Roast cucco, mashed potatoes &amp; gravy, cooked vegetables and buttered bread stretched down the center of the table, and some of Link's servants began preparing each person's plate. Once everyone had been served and had started eating, Link stood up from his seat at the head of the table, tapping lightly on his glass with a spoon. The room fell silent.<p>

"Thank you," He said. "Welcome, everyone, to tonight's meeting. I didn't quite expect everyone to show up in time for dinner, but I'm certainly glad I've got cooks who make more food than is necessary." The group briefly laughed, and Link waited until they had quieted down before sitting back down and continuing. "Now, I've heard the Hylian General is after this group, and - more specifically - me and my title. Let me be clear on something: I've notified the Queen on his behavior, so we won't be having any disturbances from him."

"I'd like to see him court marshaled, yeah?" Ashei said. "The kid's too young for such a high position, and he's been abusing his power for too long."

"I agree." Telma added. "He's too full of himself. Power-hungry, I'd say."

"My thoughts exactly." Link said. "But we're not here to focus on Ken's behavior. I'm sure all of you have heard of the battle last night?" Everyone at the table nodded. "Right. Well, we're at war again. I've called you all here because I've seen each one of you in battle, and you have all proven yourselves to be some of the most powerful warriors in the kingdom, which is what I'm looking for in this elite group I've put together."

"So you want a half dozen warriors go up against legions of monsters?" Midna asked. "You certainly are the risk-taker."

"Well," Rusl said. "During the war with Alkor, we had about four hundred men up against almost ten thousand. We wiped out a good chunk of them before we were nearly overpowered." The others nodded in agreement.

"Those were actual people." Link added. "Like Midna said, we're up against monsters. I mean, really _stupid _monsters. Bokoblins, Lizalfos, Stalchildren, et cetera. They're pretty much unarmored, so cutting them down will be like slicing cake." He stood up from his seat and walked over to an easel, which had a large map of Hyrule set up. There were seven circles marked on different areas of the map. "Now, there are seven known areas which have Hylian outposts. Near each outpost is a legion of monsters. The soldiers in the outpost will help us fight these monsters. We'll be temporarily split up so we can make wiping out these legions take less time." He looked around at each one of the warriors sitting at the table.

"Ashei," He said. "You'll meet with the soldiers at Outpost One, in the Eastern Hyrule Field."

He turned to Shad and Telma. "You two will meet with Outpost Two, near the Hidden Village."

His eyes then went to Rusl. "You will meet with Outpost Three, in the Southern Hyrule Field."

He looked now to Midna. "You'll meet with Outpost Four, in the old bulblin fortress outside Arbiter's Grounds."

He now looked over everyone. "The Queen has agreed to be a member of the group as well, so she will be staying here with Mistress Lana to protect CastleTown, just in case monsters attack here again. Her caretaker, Impa, has also agreed to join us, and she will be meeting with Outpost Five, in the Northern Faron Woods. As for me," He paused for effect. "I'm going to meet with Outpost Six, on Death Mountain. Once we've secured each outpost, we'll return here to discuss our next move. Preferably, to find those responsible for the attack last night. Is everyone clear?" The group nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Shad's hand went up.

"Question," He said. "This isn't entirely important, but I just wanted to know if we've got some kind of name for the group?" Immediately, everyone started throwing out different names, thus making the dining room noisy again. Link tapped his glass, bringing silence.

"We've got to work on speaking in turn." He said. "To answer your question, Shad, I think we should have a name that fits well with the group and what we're fighting for. Something like... the Warriors of Hyrule."

"The Hyrule Warriors!" Telma said, raising her glass in the air. The others cheered in approval and raised their glasses as well, clinking them against each other. Link smiled as his friends went back to talking and laughing, trying to temporarily take their minds off of the war for the time being. His mind slowly drifted off in different directions, first to the battle from the previous night, then to the portals in Zelda's dream, and finally to the three dark sorcerers. His mind lingered on one: Cia. If what Zelda had seen about the sorceress was true, then he would need to be extra careful when he eventually had to face her. He began to feel almost as though _he _was her main target.

_I'd better watch myself while I'm at Death Mountain. Being caught alone by her doesn't sound like a good idea._


	10. Chapter 9: Rusl and the Moblin

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER NINE: Rusl and the Moblin_

The Southern Fields Outpost was already doing battle with a legion of monsters by the time Rusl had reached it. The Hylian soldiers there were doing the best they could to keep the monsters at bay, but Rusl could clearly see that their tactics and ways of using their weapons were not doing much to slow down the enemy. The soldiers seemed to be losing not only the battle, but hope as well. He reached down to his waist and drew his sword, running through the newly fallen snow from the storm the previous night. It was soft, powdery snow, so instead of slowing him down, it flew up into the air like a cloud as he ran through it.

His sword was a blur in the air as he swung it around, cutting down monster after monster without even a second thought. The legion was made up entirely of Bokoblin foot soldiers, which made it easy for Rusl to bring dozens upon dozens of them down without so much as a scratch. A master swordsman, Rusl's blade was his offense and his defense. He knew exactly where and when to swing and block, and he knew where to hit the enemy to ensure a quick kill. The soldiers atop the walls of the outpost saw his incredible skills, and hope once again filled their souls, and they began using different tactics with their weapons. Archers and gunmen no longer fired aimlessly at their attackers; now they concentrated on where to put their arrows and bullets.

Soon a call sounded from a Bokoblin leader, signaling for the monsters to retreat. Rusl cut down as many as would try to pass too close to him, increasing the number of dead monsters almost another two dozen. When no more monsters passed by, he watched as they retreated into the Faron Woods, a Sheikah warrior following closely behind them. Rusl recognized this warrior as Impa, whom he and the other Hyrule Warriors had met that morning. He made a brief salute to her, and she paused only to return the salute before continuing on into the woods.

A loud squeaking noise filled Rusl's ears, and he turned to see a couple of Hylian soldiers opening the Outpost doors for him. He walked in, nodding his thanks to the two soldiers that had opened the doors for him, and looked around the outpost. Most of it was made up of stone walls, but there was a blacksmith, a barracks, an armory, and a special quarters for the leader of the Outpost, who was just now exiting them to greet Rusl.

"Welcome, Sir Rusl." He said, shaking hands with the swordsman. "The Queen tells me you're here to help us secure the Outpost. I received a message from her this morning."

"Her Majesty speaks the truth." Rusl replied. "How long have you been fighting these creatures?"

"We fight them on and off. They don't attack at night, because for some reason our fortress looks like a scary demon when the torches are lit. But we've been trying to mow them down since yesterday afternoon. Once their numbers go down far enough, a leader calls them back to the woods, where they regroup and multiply again. This is the tenth time this has happened."

"So they retreat, and then return with larger numbers?" Rusl was confused. There couldn't be _that_ many Bokoblins in the forest. Something was off.

"Yes, that's right." The leader confirmed. "But here's the catch. The Bokoblin leader stays behind and observes from inside the forest, coming out only to signal the retreat. We've tried to kill him several times, but he's very elusive. We believe he is the reason the Bokoblins keep returning with full force each time."

"Perhaps." Rusl said, a plot beginning to form in his mind. "The waves come randomly, I suppose?"

"Not really. They come back anywhere between ten and twenty minutes after they retreat, which is abnormally fast for organizing a legion of monsters. Why?"

"I'm just trying to figure out how much time we have before the next wave." Rusl looked around at the soldiers stationed in the different parts of the Outpost. "Here's what I propose: We keep the monsters at bay while we dispatch a highly trained assassin to locate and kill the Bokoblin leader." The Outpost leader took this into consideration, bowing his head in thought.

"I like the idea," He said. "But we don't have an assassin."

"Can we set up a trap?" Rusl suggested.

"That might work. I have some expert trap makers; they'll be able to create something for the leader in no time." The leader turned and signaled for two soldiers with large backpacks to come to him. They obeyed, and he relayed the plan to them in brief but clear detail. The two men nodded in agreement and left the Outpost without speaking a word, and the leader looked back at his quarters, then again to Rusl. "I have a letter to write to the Queen. If you would wait with my men until the monsters come, I would greatly appreciate it."

"I will." Rusl said. The leader left his side and returned to his quarters, and Rusl took a flight of stairs up to the top of the wall, looking out over the stretch of snow-covered land between the Outpost and the Faron Woods.

* * *

><p>Not more than fifteen minutes passed before the legion of Bokoblins returned to the battlefield, screaming and yelling loudly as they scrambled forward to meet their foes. A commanding officer - who was representing the Outpost leader - called for the men to begin firing on the attacking monsters. Rusl grabbed a lone bow and quiver of arrows from the armory and rushed back up the steps to the top of the wall. He began rapidly launching arrow after arrow at the monsters, not missing a single target. He went through the thirty arrows in his quiver quite quickly before he dropped the weapons and vaulted himself over the side of the wall, dropping ten feet into the snow. He drew his sword and quickly began cutting through the monsters, occasionally trying to gain his step on the higher ground. Packed snow usually froze over entirely after a short period of time, thus making the surface hard enough for Rusl to stand on as he cut down monster after monster. The powdered snow - which took much longer to freeze over - did little to hinder his swift movements.<p>

Rusl soon began to notice that the Bokoblins kept coming. He assumed he had arrived at the Outpost when it had managed to severely decrease the monsters' numbers, and so he continued hacking his way through them. He stopped cold when he heard a tremendous roar echo throughout the Southern Fields. The Bokoblins immediately parted their forces, leaving Rusl to stand somewhat awkwardly in between the two halves. A thumping sound soon rumbled through the ground, causing the snow to crack and break beneath Rusl's feet. He stumbled, trying to maintain his balance as the rumbling got stronger and stronger. Then from the woods came a huge, muscular creature about twelve feet tall, with an oversized human body, the head of a boar, and the wild mane of a lion. Its skin was a brownish-purple, and its mane a jet-black color & full of grease. It was covered from head to toe in leather armor, and it wielded a long spear in its right hand. It roared again, causing Hylian and Bokoblin alike to quiver in fear. Only Rusl remained unintimidated by the beast, and he readied his sword for a fight.

_So, they've summoned a Moblin as a last resort. This should be interesting._

The Moblin swung his spear around, knocking down Bokoblins as he approached Rusl. The swordsman gripped his sword tightly, and raced forward to meet the beast. The Moblin swung down, hoping to hit him, but Rusl quickly jumped out of the way and cut at the leather boot on its left leg, slicing through the fabric and making a shallow gash in the monster's leg. The Moblin roared, whipping its spear around madly. Rusl moved out of the way, keeping his guard up in case any daring Bokoblin wanted to make a move on him. He waited until the monster calmed its wild swinging before he rushed back into the duel. The Moblin brought his spear down, hoping to impale the swordsman. Rusl saw this coming, and he jumped high into the air, landing on the spearhead and cutting it off with his sword. He pushed himself off the shaft and grabbed onto the Moblin's neck armor, his legs and sword arm flailing around as he tried to maintain a grip on the Moblin, who was trying to shake him off.

Behind Rusl and the Moblin, the Hylian soldiers cheered him on as they watched the battle. The commanding officer ordered them to fire down on the remaining Bokoblins, while he himself grabbed a rifle and loaded it with a bullet. He aimed at the Moblin's shoulder opposite the one Rusl was hanging off of and fired, the bullet piercing the monster's skin and stunning it just long enough for Rusl to plant his feet on the Moblin's back and thrust his sword into its shoulder. The Moblin howled in pain, and reached for his injured shoulder to try and grab Rusl, but the swordsman swung himself over to the other shoulder and repeated his action. Again, the Moblin howled, its arms now too injured for it to move them without hurting itself further. Rusl dropped down and repeated the action a third time, this time in the Moblin's leg. The Moblin whirled around to attack its foe, but it accidentally stepped on its injured leg, causing it to lose balance and fall into the snow. The wounds on its shoulders and leg bled a tremendous amount, turning the snow a dark red. Behind Rusl, who breathed a sigh of relief, the soldiers cheered as they shot down the last few Bokoblins still standing. Rusl stepped over to the Moblin, who was whimpering in pain. Rusl knew the creature was a mindless, ruthless warrior with no intelligence whatsoever - it relied solely on its size and brute strength - but he couldn't help but feel pity for its suffering. He raised his sword above its forehead and drove the blade through its tiny brain, causing its body to endure a brief spasm before finally going still.

As he pulled his sword out of the Moblin's head, he heard one last gunshot ring out, and looked to his right to see the last of the Bokoblins fall in to the ground. The snow was littered with Bokoblin bodies from the eleven waves that the Outpost had endured, with one huge Moblin body in the middle. Rusl frowned; cleaning up the area was going to be no quick task. The smell of the already rotting bodies was enough to make a Goron throw up.

His eyes caught movement in the woods, and soon the pair of trap makers exited the woods, dragging the body of the Bokoblin leader behind them. The monster had a couple of arrows in its belly, and its horn - which it had used multiple times to call back its legion - was split in two. The soldiers dropped the body down next to the Moblin, and soon more soldiers exited the Outpost to help pile up the Bokoblin bodies for burning. Rusl returned to the Outpost and stepped through the gates, looking around for any sign of dead soldiers. He spotted three, and called for a couple of other soldiers to help him gather the bodies for a proper burial.

As he gathered the bodies, a young man in a noble's tunic rushed up to him, a pen and paper in hand. Rusl stopped only to see what the young man wanted.

"I'm a Royal Messenger from the Castle." He said. "I've been dispatched by the Queen to gather reports on your progress." Rusl nodded in understanding.

"Tell Her Majesty that Outpost One is secure." Rusl ordered. "All monsters have been destroyed, and only three known Hylian deaths have occurred. Ensure her that I, Rusl of Ordon, have survived." The young man wrote his words on the sheet of paper, then looked back up as if there was more information. "That is all." Rusl finished. The Messenger nodded, and he turned and left the Outpost, mounting a spotted brown mare and riding off towards the Castle. Rusl watched the young man ride away until he had gone below the horizon, then continued on his way, following the two soldiers that were carrying bodies into the woods for burial. In his mind, he prayed to the goddesses to keep the Messenger safe on his return journey. He then added to his prayer to keep his friends safe and alive during the battles to come.

_I hope the others have similar reports._


	11. Chapter 10: Ashei and the Arbiter

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER TEN: Ashei and the Arbiter_

It was late morning when Ashei arrived at the Outpost in the Eastern Fields. She had just parted ways with Midna, who had gone into the Gerudo Desert, and she already missed the company. Everyone in the Outpost was silent as stone, watching all possible directions. Each soldier gripped their weapons tightly. Some had bows, some had swords, some had guns. All of them wore the same armor, making it difficult to tell them apart. But their identities weren't what scared her. It was the haunting silence, which raised some questions.

_What is it they're afraid of? Why am I afraid of it? _

Suddenly, the world went completely dark, as if a cloak had covered the sun. Ashei - who was standing atop the walls with the soldiers - couldn't see ten feet past the walls of the Outpost. Around her, she could feel each soldier tense up. Some of them even started whimpering. Ashei began to get a feeling of dread, and she could feel her forehead sweating intensely.

_What the hell is going on?_

Finally, she left her post atop the walls and stepped down the flight of stairs, signaling for two soldiers to open the gates for her. The soldiers reluctantly obeyed, opening the doors just long enough for Ashei to step outside. They shut the doors behind her, rendering her completely vulnerable to whatever it was that frightened them. She watched the darkness carefully, looking around for any sign of monsters hiding in it. She saw nothing with her eyes alone, so she brought up a lantern hooked to her belt and lit it, hoping it would brighten up the area around her. Again, she saw nothing, and the lantern was no help at all. She blew out the lantern, and immediately everything went black. She couldn't see anything, and she could hear only the sound of her breathing and feel her heart beating in her chest.

She walked blindly back to the Outpost, keeping her hands out in front of her so she wouldn't bump into it. She walked for what seemed like a long time, and she began to wonder if she was even going in the right direction. For all she knew, she may have missed the Outpost entirely. She kept walking, and soon her feeling of dread began to grow stronger and stronger. She had absolutely no idea where she was going, and she almost wanted to just give up and let the darkness consume her, when her hands touched wood. Thinking the wood belonged to the Outpost doors, she pushed on them in an effort to open them. The doors moved, but there was the sound of steel clanking against steel, signaling to her that the doors were locked shut. She cried out, hoping the soldiers atop the Outpost walls would hear her and allow her in, but no one responded. Not a sound was made. She was completely alone.

She began to hear a faint noise coming from behind her, like that of a very small bell. She turned around, and a bluish light shone faintly in the darkness, growing brighter as it got closer to her. Her hand reached for her sword, but she didn't yet grip it. Her eyes fixed themselves onto the light, and she began to hear a faint voice singing an old children's song in the darkness. The song sounded soothing, but at the same time it had a much more haunting tone.

_I've got no strings to hold me down,  
>To make me fret, or make me frown.<br>I had strings, but now I'm free.  
>There are no strings on me.<em>

_I've got no strings, so I have fun.  
>I'm not tied to anyone.<br>How I love my liberty!  
>There are no strings on me.<em>

_I've got no strings and I'm so glad,  
>No strings at all to make me sad.<br>I had strings, but now I'm free.  
>There are no strings on me.<em>

As the song finished, Ashei could see a tall, bluish woman holding a lantern in the air. In her right hand, she held a beautifully crafted sword with strange writing on the blade. She stepped slowly towards Ashei, and as she drew closer, Ashei could see the kind features of her face. Still she sweat heavily from her brow, and the feeling of dread remained with her.

_But she looks so friendly and kind. What is she?_

The bluish woman stopped in front of Ashei and smiled at her, lowering the lantern. Ashei could only stare into the woman's eyes, occasionally swallowing hard. There was something about the woman that frightened her. Something deceptive and evil. Ashei just didn't know what it was.

_"You are Ashei, daughter of Sir Noel of Faron Village." _The woman said. Ashei's eyes widened. _  
><em>

_How does this woman know who I am?_

_"I know all things, Ashei."_ The woman said, as if she had read her thoughts. _"I am the Arbiter. I am the guardian of the Sand Goddess, the Queen of Shadows, and the sister of Death." _The woman stepped closer to Ashei, her aura radiating pure malice. _"I seek but one thing: Souls." _She put Ashei's face in her hands and leaned in, as though she wanted to kiss her. Ashei recognized this action as the terrifying Kiss of Death, and pushed the Arbiter away, drawing her sword. Her feeling of dread remained with her, but her courage was returning quickly.

"My soul is not yet ready for Death's possession, yeah?" She said. "Leave me alone." The Arbiter hissed and snapped her fingers, causing the lantern to disappear, only to reappear in between them as a burning fire that was bluer than the sky. Ashei watched as the Arbiter began to circle the flame, and she began moving in the same direction. They kept circling, their eyes never parting from each other. Suddenly, the Arbiter lashed out with her sword, the point directed at Ashei's forehead. Ashei pushed the blade to the side with her own, then swung it horizontally at her opponent's abdomen. The Arbiter did nothing as the blade swept clean through her stomach. She never cried out, nor did she even flinch. Instead, she grinned.

_"You cannot kill me."_ She said. _"Didn't I just tell you? I am the Sister of Death." _She giggled, and began dancing around the fire. As she danced, she moved swiftly towards Ashei, who stumbled and fell backwards in surprise. The Arbiter jumped on top of Ashei's chest, putting her sword up against her neck. Ashei swallowed hard, watching as the Arbiter drew an invisible line across her throat with the tip of her sword. Ashei waited for the sword to make it's cut, closing her eyes as the cold steel of the Arbiter's sword touched her neck.

Suddenly, a loud screech rang out in the darkness, and immediately a shadowy figure raced onto the scene and tackled the Arbiter. The woman screamed and thrashed, waving her sword around blindly. The shadowy figure produced a series of chains from the darkness, wrapping them around the Arbiter's waist, neck, and arms. It spoke a little phrase - something Ashei did not understand - and immediately the Arbiter fell limp. The figure began moving her around like a puppet, forcing her to drop her sword to the ground and making her walk away from the scene. The figure let go of the chains, but continued controlling its puppet by moving its hand in twisted, unnatural ways. It picked up the sword and approached Ashei, whose feeling of dread was now at its strongest point.

_"Do you know who I am?"_ The figure said, his voice sounding quite demonic. Ashei stared into the figure's empty eyes as she searched for words to say.

"I... I..." She stuttered. "I d-don't..." The figure sighed.

_"I am the Arbiter. You know me by another name, however. I am Death."_

"Y-you're the Arbiter?" Ashei was very confused by this entire affair. "But that woman-"

_"What you met was my sister, Deception. She has been after my power since time began. I have had to keep her under control like a puppet, so as to prevent her from taking souls who are not yet ready for my possession." _Death looked down with his empty eyes at the sword in his hands, then held it out to her. _"This is the Arbiter's Sword. It is a division of my power, and belongs only to the one who can escape the hands of Deception. You are that person."_ Ashei looked at the blade, contemplating whether or not she should take it. Her hand slowly reached out and gripped the hilt of the sword, which immediately began to glow a brilliant blue. The writing on the blade - once uninterpretable - could now be read with her own eyes, saying: "This is the Sword of the Arbiter, Death. The one who is chosen to wield it shall have the power of the Arbiter, and none shall otherwise use it, nor shall they take it from its owner, save it be Death himself."

_"You have been given a great gift, Ashei." _Death said. _"Use it wisely. Even the most powerful of men can fall to this blade." _He bowed, and disappeared from her sight. Immediately the darkness lifted, and she looked around to see where she was. She found herself standing outside the Outpost, facing away from its doors. She looked out over the snowy fields, noticing a horde of monsters heading towards the Outpost. She turned around to face the Outpost, looking up at the walls. The soldier's moods had changed, and instead of fear, they looked as though they felt quite relieved, refreshed, and ready for battle. She smiled, then turned back to face the monster horde rushing towards her. She glanced down at the Arbiter's Sword in her hands, smiling.

_I've got this new power now, so let's see what I can do._

She began walking towards the monsters, slowly increasing her speed into a run. Eventually, she was practically sprinting towards the horde. She could hear the monsters scream and shout at her, raising their weapons as they ran towards her. She raised the Arbiter's Sword in the air, swinging it downwards as she met with the horde. The blade physically cut through one monster, but as the blade made contact with the monster's skin, it and a dozen others surrounding it were blown backwards. Ashei grinned at her new ability, and began swinging in all directions, cutting down dozens and dozens of monsters at a time. Many of them began turning back, but none of them were able to escape Ashei and her tremendous power.

One monster - a large Dinolfos - thought it wise to attack Ashei with its own blade, swinging down upon her with hopes of cutting her down. Ashei smacked the blade to the side and cut through the Dinolfos' chest, spilling blood everywhere. She swiped its head clean off to end its suffering, and continued cutting down the remaining monsters who thought it wise to try and strike her down. All of the others simply tried to flee, some even dropping their weapons to avoid carrying extra weight as they ran off.

Ashei simply watched as the last few monsters limped away from her, trying to get out of range of her power. One by one, each monster dropped dead from blood loss until at last the horde was diminished. She smiled, and turned and walked back towards the Outpost, feeling very satisfied with her power. At the same time, however, she was afraid of it. She knew this power wasn't something to be trifled with. She figured Link felt the same way about his abilities as the Triforce Guardian, and so she decided it best to use her power only as a last resort.

_I wonder what the others will think of this._


	12. Chapter 11: Zelda, Lana, and Cia

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER ELEVEN: Zelda, Lana, and Cia_

Zelda's footsteps echoed throughout the halls of the Castle as she walked down to the main doors. She was dressed in a warm winter dress that was as blue as the sky, with white fur lining the sleeves, neck, and hem. As she entered the main entrance, she was greeted by a butler, who had been chatting with some high-ranking soldiers, one of whom was the sergeant from the battle a couple of days earlier. As Zelda approached them, they turned and bowed to her respectfully. When they straightened back up, the butler glanced at Zelda's dress.

"Going out, Your Majesty?" He asked. Zelda nodded. The butler bowed his head quickly and whistled to a nearby servant, who understood the command and pulled a winter coat out of a closet situated near the doors. The servant quickly brought the coat over to the Queen and helped her into it. She thanked him, and he bowed respectfully and went back to his previous work.

"May I have a word, Majesty?" The sergeant asked.

"Of course." Zelda replied, walking towards the doors. Two guards opened them for her and the sergeant, closing them again once they were outside. Immediately, the sergeant began speaking.

"Milady, I wish to speak on the matter of the General's... behavior." The sergeant said. Zelda looked over at him, expecting him to go on, and so he did. "I received a report yesterday from one of your warrior friends, saying he was using an illegal Wanted poster to find Sir Link. He also said the General was trying to... steal Sir Link's title, whatever that means. Do you know the reason behind all this?"

"I am sure the General is jealous of Link and his accomplishments. When someone so young as Ken is put into a position of power, they can become corrupted by it. I should have realized this before I appointed him as General." The two of them began walking down the bridge between the Castle and the city below it. A brief gale whipped across the bridge, chilling their faces.

"Shall he be court marshaled?" The sergeant asked. Zelda shook her head.

"No. Just relieve him of his duties entirely, and let life punish him for his actions. I'd expect the nobles to have spread rumors of him throughout the kingdom by now, so I don't think it will be necessary for us to-" She was interrupted by the sound of cannon fire coming from the South Gate. She directed her eyes to the Gate through the screaming crowds of people in the Southern roads, immediately noticing monsters climbing the walls of CastleTown and attacking the soldiers. Some of the monsters even managed to get past the soldiers and start terrorizing the citizens in the streets.

"We must get you to safety, Your Majesty!" The sergeant said. He placed a firm hand on her shoulder and began leading her back up to the Castle. As they ran, she heard an explosion from behind her; the monsters had blown up the Southern Gate, and were now pouring into the City. The sergeant kept leading her up through the courtyard and into the main hall of the Castle, where her advisor and several maidservants stood waiting. The sergeant barked a few orders to the two guards at the doors, then turned to the Queen and her advisor. "Get Her Majesty into the basement," He said to the advisor. "Make sure nothing follows!" The advisor nodded, and led Zelda up the stairs and away from the main hall. His task complete, the sergeant ran out of the Castle and towards the battle.

* * *

><p>As Zelda stepped out onto the balcony, she caught a glimpse of the fiery battle going on below. The monsters had taken most of the City, leaving only the noble district unconquered. She could hear the terrified screams of the people sounding from below, and her heart hurt for the inevitable losses that many families would have to bear once the battle seceded. It looked as though the soldiers were keeping the monsters as far away from the Castle as possible, and the noble district looked quite protected as well. Zelda hoped that the people living in the City would have had the chance to find safety in either of the two unconquered locations.<p>

On one side of her, her advisor begged for her to follow him to the Castle's basement, where she would be safe. She kept telling him to go without her, but he would not listen, and instead persisted further. She knew he was only doing his duties, but she was too worried about her people to care about what could happen to her.

Lana, one of her personal friends, stepped out onto the balcony on her other side. She motioned for Zelda's advisor to save himself, and that she would protect the Queen from harm. The advisor nodded and left the balcony, leaving Zelda and Lana to watch the battle from their perch.

"I've managed to create a thin barrier around the Castle." Lana said. "It will keep the monsters out, but anything as strong as a King Dodongo will have no trouble getting in."

"You've done what you can, Lana." Zelda said. "Let us hope this is simply a rogue legion of monsters, and not something led by anything like a King Dodongo." She kept her eyes trained on the battle below, frowning. "We should be down there, helping them."

"As the Princess, you may have gotten away with it." Lana pointed out. "But as Queen, you're protected by more guards than any one City. You can't run off fighting battles."

"Maybe she can't 'run off'," A voice said from behind them. They whirled around to face Cia, who was twirling a staff in her hand and smiling. Her eyes were hidden behind her crow's mask, and her voluptuous body was covered only enough to prevent her private areas from being seen. "But she can still fight battles." She finished.

"_You._" Lana said. She produced a long, wooden staff that looked like a twisted tree branch, aiming the larger end of it at Cia, who simply laughed at it.

"Oh, lovely. You're going to beat me with a stick. How terrifying." She briefly mock-cringed at the wooden staff, then regained her posture and directed her staff towards Zelda, her eyes still focused on Lana. "I'm here for the Queen. I can deal with you later."

"You'll have to deal with the both of us!" Lana said, firing a magical beam at Cia with the stick. Cia jumped out of the way of the beam and landed in front of the entrance to the Throne Room, giggling and taunting them with her hand. Lana lunged forward with her staff, smacking it down onto Cia's. The impact between the two staves created a shockwave that separated the clouds surrounding the Castle. As the two sorceresses swung their staves at each other, Zelda rushed up the steps, drawing a golden sword from a pouch on her belt. The pouch was similar to Link's, but was smaller and carried less.

Lana managed to push Cia back with her staff just as Zelda came up to her, sword at the ready. The two of them stood in defensive battle stances before Cia, who quickly regained her posture from Lana's recent attack. She twirled her staff around in the air, a cloud of smoke coming from the larger end of it. The smoke surrounded Zelda and Lana, creating a thick black wall that prevented the two of them from seeing where Cia could strike from next. They stood back to back, looking around for any sign of the sorceress whilst holding their weapons close to them.

Soon the smoke cleared, and Cia was nowhere to be seen. Lana and Zelda looked around the Throne Room, puzzled at her sudden disappearance. They glanced up at the ceiling, searched behind the pillars, and even checked behind the Throne. Cia was just... gone.

"She must have teleported away from here." Lana said. "She can do that, you know. She only does it when she knows she's losing a battle."

"Just like a true coward," Zelda stated. "She's afraid of losing, like all villains are. They run when they know they cannot win." Lana nodded in agreement. Suddenly she cried out, whipping her staff out at Zelda, who had turned around to see what Lana had screamed about. As soon as she had made a one-hundred-eighty degree turn, she felt the cold steel of a dagger pierce her chest. She looked up at Cia, who grinned evilly as she pulled the dagger out of Zelda's chest. The Queen fell to the floor, clutching her wound. Lana stood frozen in place, utterly shocked at what she had just witnessed. Her shock didn't last long, however. She shouted a strange incantation in Ancient Hylian and thrust her staff forward, creating a translucent barrier that sent Cia flying backwards into a wall. As Cia tried to regain her posture, Lana smacked her to the side with another barrier. She was about to follow up with a third barrier when she was pushed back by a similar attack from Cia. She did a quick recovery backflip in the air and landed on her feet, brushing a strand of her blue hair to the side.

Cia twirled her staff around her again, then thrust the smaller end of it out in front of her, sending out a small beam at Lana, who easily deflected it away. She glanced over at Zelda, who was struggling to breathe as her dagger wound threatened to take her life. She looked back at Cia, glaring into the eyes of her crow's mask. She whispered another Ancient Hylian incantation, and thrust the larger end of her staff forward. A translucent hand projected itself from the staff and grabbed hold of Cia, threatening to crush her. Cia smiled, and began chuckling evilly.

"You're too late." She said. "There was poison on that dagger. In a few seconds, the Queen will be dead, and the Triforce of Wisdom which she holds will be mine. Then it's Link I'm after, and you can rest assured I'll use a different method of getting Power and Courage from him." Lana contemplated whether or not she should either kill Cia now. She wanted to save Zelda, but at the same time she had to deal with Cia. She couldn't get her mind to decide on what to do. "Hmm, decisions, decisions." Cia taunted. "Better choose wisely: Me? Or Zelda?" By this time, Lana had had enough. She retracted the magical hand back to her staff, dropping Cia to the floor. She ran over to Zelda's dying form and knelt next to her, producing a blue mist from her hands and placing it on the wound. Immediately, Zelda broke into a fit of seizures as Lana's magic sucked the poison from her body. Zelda groaned in pain as a steady stream of poison floated out of her wound and into a ball in Lana's hand. Soon the flow of poison ended, and the wound began to heal itself. In Lana's hand was now a solidified ball of poison. She turned to Cia, who was weak from the magical hand's fingers crushing her body. The two of them stared at each other for a long time before Lana finally threw the ball of poison at Cia, hoping it would hit its mark. Cia, knowing she was defeated, quickly snapped her fingers and disappeared, and the ball of poison shattered against a pillar into a thousand tiny chunks.

Angry, Lana turned back to Zelda, who was looking up at her and smiling with gratitude. Her wound had finished healing, but Lana knew she would have the scar for the rest of her life. She helped the Queen up onto her feet, and together they walked out onto the balcony. They looked down over CastleTown, which had quieted down now. Soldiers were busy either finishing off remaining monsters or searching among the dead for their own. Both women breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the scene, grateful that the battle hadn't lasted longer than an hour.

Zelda looked out over the fields surrounding CastleTown, eying the Faron Woods, Death Mountain, and Gerudo Desert in the far distance. She knew most of the other Hyrule Warriors had gone to those areas, or areas near them, and her mind quickly turned to the Outposts outside Hyrule and the Warriors defending them. She was worried about them all, but for some reason she couldn't help but feel the most concern towards Link, Impa, and Midna, who had gone to Death Mountain, Faron Woods, and Gerudo Desert, respectfully. She almost felt as though the most dangerous of legions of monsters would be there, and she wished in her heart that the three of them would be especially safe.

_Please, goddesses, protect them. Protect all of them._


	13. Chapter 12: Impa and the Master of Fear

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER TWELVE: Impa and the Master of Fear_

Ugly purple clouds formed a layer of thick fog on the floor of the Northern Faron Woods, creating a barrier between the entrance to the Woods and the plaza outside the Forest Temple. This barrier usually hindered Hylians and any other race of people from getting through it, allowing only certain kinds of monsters to pass unfazed. The fog caused any being vulnerable to it to become temporarily blind and weak, allowing the monsters immune to such effects to strike. It was an easy method of hunting and trapping prey, but to Impa, it was a simple obstacle that could easily be bypassed.

The reason Impa was here was that there was an Outpost just next to the Forest Temple, outside the fog. This Outpost protected two very sacred places: The Sacred Grove and the Temple of Time. Because of the mass monster outbreak, this Outpost now had double its original amount of soldiers, but it still wasn't quite enough to match the large forces of monsters. Impa was traveling to the Outpost to assist it in destroying the legion of monsters in the area, thus further protecting the sacred grounds it guarded. Now she faced a serious obstacle: A way to get around the fog.

She had heard stories of the Hero of Twilight being able to pass through the fog via the help of a monkey who had stolen his lantern. She didn't have any lanterns with her, but she was able to produce a special blue fire. She held out her hand, and a ball of fire the size of a bomb appeared. She held the fireball out in front of her to test whether or not the fog would retreat. Seeing that it did, she stepped down into the fog, the fireball creating a sort of shield around her to protect her from the fog's dangerous effects.

As she walked through the fog, she could feel some sinister entity watching her. As a Sheikah, she was not one for being afraid of anything, but somehow she knew this presence well, and it brought a strange sense of fear into her mind that suddenly unearthed painful images of her past. Her mind began to flood with images of a mysterious sorcerer, whose magic was corrupt and evil, and brought upon the Sheikah an era of darkness in the days of old. Soon she began to hear voices in her mind.

_"Flee... Flee to safety..."_

_"Cower before fear..."_

_"Beg for mercy..."_

The voices, Impa knew, were trying to bring fear into her mind. She recognized them as three different voices used by the same mysterious Sheikah, as she had heard them before in another place. She refused to allow the voices to affect her as they had done for several of her Sheikah ancestors, and instead stopped in her tracks and released the fireball into the air, letting it hover just above her head. She drew her Naginata - a pole-like weapon with a short blade on one end - and looked around the area, using her Sheikah senses to find the entity that was bothering her.

Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted up into the air, and she looked down and found herself on a wooden platform hovering twenty feet above the ground. Looking back up, she jumped slightly as she came face to face with a hooded sorcerer, whom she recognized as the Sheikah's old enemy, Wizzro. He looked at her with his one ugly eye, snickering as he hovered above the wooden platform.

"Oooh, look what I have found!" He said. "Impa, last survivor of the Sheikah Tribe. Shall I finally put your race to rest?"

"Do your worst, you ugly bastard." Impa said, readying her Naginata. "But as the guardian and caretaker of Queen Zelda, I have been exceptionally trained in the dark ways of the Sheikah, and I will not be defeated so easily."

Wizzro howled with laughter, rolling in midair and clutching his belly. "Oh, the bravery! It fills the very woods with light!" He stopped laughing and glared at Impa menacingly. "I _hate _it." He lunged forward, forming spheres of shadows in his wrinkly hands. Impa brought up her Naginata to block the attack, then swung out the sharp end of it and smacked Wizzro across the face. The sorcerer hissed in pain, clutching the side of his face behind his hood. He scowled, and fired a series of shadow spheres at Impa. The Sheikah blocked each and every one of them with the pole of her weapon, deflecting many of them back at Wizzro, who sidestepped each one. He giggled with glee, dancing around the wooden platform and snapping his fingers. As he danced, a dozen zombified Bokoblins appeared out of nowhere and approached Impa, reaching out to grab her. She performed a quick spin attack, executing each Bokoblin with ease. As soon as each monster had fallen, another dozen took their place. Wizzro was still dancing around the platform, giggling like a deranged lunatic.

Again, Impa performed a spin attack on the advancing zombies, and again they kept reappearing. Impa kept her eyes trained on the monsters, but out of the corners of her eyes, she watched Wizzro continue to spin around and snap his fingers. She did another spin attack once the monsters drew too close. As she righted her stance again, she watched Wizzro float around the platform, passing a tree on each round. She flipped her Naginata around in her hand and, at just the right moment, threw it at the tree like a spear. The sharp end of the Naginata caught Wizzro in the throat, pinning him to the tree. Impa leapt off the platform and grabbed hold of her Naginata, planting her feet on the side of the tree and pushing the weapon further into it, which further wounded Wizzro. He looked at her and grinned evilly, then snapped his fingers and disappeared. Impa looked confusedly at the place where Wizzro just was, but her stare did not linger for long. She soon felt a dark presence behind her, and turned around to see what it was. Wizzro screamed at the top of his lungs right in her face, startling her and causing her to lose her grip on her weapon and fall to the ground below. She landed on big, thick tree root and rolled down into the fog, coming to a stop on her back. Her Naginata soon landed next to her, the sharp blade just inches from burying itself in her face.

Impa stood up and pulled her Naginata out of the ground, then looked around for any sign of Wizzro. The sorcerer floated above the fog, watching her like a hawk. For a moment, his image was clear, but suddenly it began to blur, and Impa realized too late that the fog had taken an affect on her. She could no longer see whilst in the thick fog, and her limbs began to weaken. She could hear Wizzro laughing in front of her, behind her, to one side... He was everywhere. She could no longer tell which voice was his, and which was false. She could no longer feel his presence in one lone area - it was all around her. She felt weak. Broken, even. She felt as though she had failed her mission.

_Is this how I die? In a goddess-forsakened forest covered in fog? _

Impa's knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground. As soon as her hands touched the earth, however, she was suddenly able to see everything around her via the shadows cast on the ground, including trees, the fog, and even Wizzro himself. Though she had no physical strength left for her to stand and fight Wizzro whilst in the fog, she did have enough to bring her arms up, curl her hands into fists, and plunge them into the ground. The impact caused a shockwave that dissipated the fog, and soon her vision and strength began their return. Wizzro looked around, utterly surprised that Impa had managed to avoid defeat so quickly. He formed a couple of shadow spheres in his hands, ready to fling them at her as soon as she stood. She could see this through her Shadow Vision while her standard vision returned, and she stood quickly and raised her Naginata in the air. Wizzro flung the spheres at the same time, growling as Impa deflecting each one.

Impa's vision finally righted itself, and she stared into Wizzro's single ugly eye. Wizzro screeched and lunged forward, throwing shadow spheres at her repeatedly. Impa swung her Naginata around and around, knocking each sphere off to one side. As Wizzro came in range with her weapon, she thrust it forward, the blade stabbing Wizzro's eye. The sorcerer cried out in pain, clutching his eye with one hand. He pointed a shaking finger - seemingly at Impa - and cursed at her.

"I'll be back, Sheikah." He hissed. "Don't think you've seen the last of me!" He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Impa alone in the woods. She looked around the now-fogless area, noticing the entrance to the plaza outside the Forest Temple. Smiling, she ran off towards it, mounting her Naginata on her back.

* * *

><p>As Impa approached the Outpost, she was pleased to see the Outpost captain standing outside its doors, waiting patiently for her. He smiled when he saw her, and reached one hand outwards to shake hers. She accepted the handshake with pleasure.<p>

"Good to finally see you arrive." The captain said. "We heard some noises and laughter in the woods, and we were about to head in to investigate when you appeared."

Impa frowned. "I had some complications in getting here." She said subtly. "Have the monsters shown any signs of appearing yet?"

"We know where they are, but they haven't bothered to find us yet. I believe it may only be a matter of time before-"

"Captain!" A guard shouted from atop a tree. "They're coming! Loads of Bokoblins!"

"Well, there we go." The captain said, drawing his sword. Impa drew her Naginata once again, and the two of them braced themselves for battle. Soon dozens upon dozens of Bokoblins poured over the small cliff facing the Outpost, screaming and raising their swords in the air as they raced forward. A command came from inside the Outpost, and immediately arrows and bullets rained down on the Bokoblins. Monsters left and right began dropping like flies, and those that managed to get past the guns and the bows were cut down by Impa and the captain.

The battle soon took a turn for the better when a couple of Hylian soldiers wheeled in a cannon and began firing at the cliff, sending Bokoblins in all different directions with each cannonball. The cliff itself crumbled into chunks from the impact of the cannonballs, making a rather unstable surface for the monsters as they ran down towards the Outpost. They stumbled as their feet pressed into the sharp, unstable rocks, causing them to fall and get trampled on by those behind them, or cut their feet and get distracted by the pain long enough to get taken down easily by an arrow or a gunshot. The monsters were too stupid to realize that there was another section of cliff that they could jump down from, rather than stumble down what was left of the ledge they were using. Despite this, the soldiers manning the cannon continued destroying the cliff, thus making it impossible for the monsters to get down the rubble without stumbling or cutting their feet open. Impa watched as the last remaining monsters fell down the collapsed cliff, smiling to herself and thanking the goddesses for an easy victory. Her mind soon drifted to her comrades - the other Hyrule Warriors - and she wondered to herself about how their missions were coming along.

_I hope their victories are as quick as this one. _


	14. Chapter 13: Shad, Telma, and the Spider

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Shad, Telma, and the Spider_

The Outpost was eerily quiet as Shad and Telma approached it. It was situated just a little ways away from the entrance to the Hidden Village, which was covered by a massive spiderweb. The little trench path leading up and around the Outpost and the Hidden Village was also covered in a roof of spiderwebs that was thick enough to blot out the sun. Much of the snow had melted underneath the webs due to the heat that was now preserved by them, allowing Shad and Telma to remove their winter coats as they passed under them. Each of them carried a weapon on their backs. Shad, a sword, and Telma, a bow and quiver of bomb arrows.

"I wonder where all these webs came from?" Shad questioned. They stepped up to the Outpost doors and knocked loudly.

"I don't know," Telma said. "But if there are this many, and they're thick enough to blot out the sun and prevent cold air from getting in, then we may have a serious problem." The Outpost doors didn't open, and so Telma knocked again, this time much louder. Shad just barely touched a nearby web strand with his finger, its gluey substance feeling very wet and sloppy. He wrinkled his nose and wiped his finger on a nearby rock. Telma knocked a third time, and finally the doors opened. She and Shad stepped in and looked around. No one was at their posts. Weapons, helmets and armor were stuck to the webs that were strung just a few feet above the tallest point on the Outpost, and all of the soldiers were on the first level, either in their barracks or sitting or standing around a fire. All of them were silent, and Shad could sense that they were afraid of something.

"I'd call it a ghost town," Shad said. "If it had nobody living in it."

"Nobody will be livin' in it soon," A tall, portly man said to their left. He was leaning against a wall, twirling his mustache. He had a bottle of rum in one hand. "We're leavin'. There's no way I'm lettin' my men stay here while that _beast _sits in its cave and waits for unsuspectin' prey."

"What beast?" Shad asked. "Does it have something to do with these webs?"

"Aye," The man said, pushing himself off the wall. He stepped towards them, tightly clutching the bottle of rum in his hand. "It's a monster, and an ugly one. It's huge - no, gargantuan. It's the size of the CastleTown square with all its legs spread out. And it's got these teeth," He clenched his hands together, a bit of rum spilling out of the bottle and onto the ground. "So nasty and yellow, they make your piss look clear. And they're sharp, too. Hell, they're even long enough to pierce through your entire body."

"So it is a spider." Shad said observantly. "A Queen Gohma, perhaps?"

"No, bigger." The man got right up in his face. Shad could smell the alcohol on his breath. "Bigger than any other spider anyone's ever seen. I don't think it's even been discovered yet."

* * *

><p>Like the observant studier he was, Shad immediately rushed out of the Outpost and into the Hidden Village once he heard the man explain that the spider was an undiscovered species. He wanted to get as much information as he could from the creature, and hopefully be able to give it a name. Telma repeatedly advised against it, saying the spider was clearly not something that anyone could study without being eaten alive. Shad, of course, didn't care, saying it was "All in the name of knowledge."<p>

"The world needs to know about this creature, Telma." He reasoned. "If we ever encounter another one like it, we should at least know how to deal with it." He walked quietly through the emptied streets of the Hidden Village, carefully approaching a large cave at the far end. He had a sword in his hand, and he clenched it nervously. His mind raced with thoughts of what the world would think of his discovery. He was so caught up in his excitement that he didn't notice the huge spider hovering directly above him. Telma saw it, however, and she raced forward and dove into Shad from behind, sending them both to the ground as the spider's abdomen swung down over them, its stinger poised to kill. Telma looked up at the spider and gasped at its massive size, then stood up and dragged Shad into a nearby house to avoid the spider's stinger a second time. Shad wiped his glasses and put them on, then looked outside at the streets. Coming seemingly from the sky, the spider dropped down into the streets and looked around the area, it's big, ugly red eyes scanning for its prey.

"You're an idiot for coming in here, Shad!" Telma spat quietly. "Now look at what you've gotten us into!"

"I was only doing this for knowledge." Shad said. "I want to know more about this creature's behavior."

"Forget knowledge! It's a goddess-damned spider; They're all the same."

"It's not just any spider," Shad looked out at the creature again, and pointed to its abdomen. "Look at its back. Do you see what that is?" Telma looked closely at the spider's abdomen, and soon saw a strange skull-like image that was formed from its hair. "It's a massive Skulltula." Shad continued. "But unlike them, it doesn't hang from a spiderweb. It lives in that cave over there." He pointed to the cave at the far end of the village.

"And you know that from just a couple minutes of observation?" Telma questioned. "You didn't even see it come out!"

"Look, where else would it hide? It's too big to not be seen upon entry to the village, and there's no other place big enough to hide itself _except _that cave!"

"So what do we do?" Telma's eyes darted between the cave and the spider.

"Animals hate fire, correct?" Shad asked. Telma nodded in agreement. "Well, we can use fire to drive it back into its cave. Then we can close it shut with a few bombs and trap it inside." Telma pondered this plan for a moment before a question entered her mind.

"Where exactly do we get fire?" She asked. Shad smiled.

"We already know. But we'll have to sneak out first."

* * *

><p>Telma peeked out into the streets, looking around carefully for any sign of the spider. Noticing that the coast was clear, she signaled for Shad to follow her out of the building they were in. The two of them quietly tiptoed behind the buildings to avoid being seen by the creature, occasionally diving into a house whenever they saw a large shadow move above them. They were both shaking violently as they crept behind the stretch of buildings towards the Village exit.<p>

As they drew near to the exit, they were forced to dive behind a building when they spotted the spider creep down in front of the entrance and stand still, moving only its head. Telma cursed under her breath.

"It's blocked the exit." She said blatantly. "Now what?"

"Well," Shad said. "Obviously, we'll need a distraction. Remember the house we hid in with that pile of Alkorian armor inside it?" He pointed to a house that was about four buildings down the way they came. Telma followed the direction of his finger and spotted the house as he continued. "If we can make enough noise with the armor, it should distract the spider long enough for us to escape."

"Good plan." Telma agreed. The two of them crept back to the house Shad had previously mentioned, occasionally watching the entrance to make sure the spider was still there. Telma stepped into the house from the back and picked up a helmet. Shad, meanwhile, stood outside the house and watched the spider carefully before he gave Telma a thumbs up. Immediately, Telma smashed the helmet into the other pieces of armor, causing them to rattle and crash against each other. Shad watched as the spider's eyes looked directly at the house, and soon it left its position at the exit and rushed towards the house. Shad motioned for Telma to drop the helmet, then left the building. Telma did as he ordered and followed him out of the house, racing past the buildings and passing the spider as it sped up to their previous location. As they entered onto open ground, Shad took a quick glance at the spider to make sure it was still at the house. Sighing with relief, he bolted down through the Village's tunneled exit, Telma following just feet behind him. They didn't stop running until they had come up to the Outpost doors. Telma feverishly pounded on them, calling for the soldiers to let them in. The doors immediately opened for them, and they rushed to the center of the Outpost, where the fire was settled. They each grabbed a stick from a wood pile near the fire and lit one end of each of them on fire, then turned and left the Outpost before the soldiers could say anything.

They were both very careful as they crept quietly back up to the Village, stopping at the entrance only to look up and make sure the spider wasn't waiting for them. Shad noticed the spider crawling around at the back of the village, and suddenly his plan shifted. Originally, he had planned to walked up to the spider and drive it back into its cave with the fire, but then he remembered that spiderwebs, no matter how big, were flammable, and immediately he touched a nearby strand of webbing with the lit end of his stick. Telma repeated this action with another strand, and soon the entire village was lit up by the burning strands of webbing. They watched as the spider hissed and squealed, backing up as fast as possible before crawling back into its cave. While the webs still burned, the two of them ran closer to the back of the Village to get a better range between them and the cave's entrance. Telma pulled her bow off her shoulder and drew a bomb arrow from her quiver. She loaded the bow and drew the bowstring back, aiming directly at the cave's entrance. She fired, watching the arrow fly into the rock and cause the entrance to crumble into huge chunks of rock that blocked the entrance. They heard a loud screech come from inside the cave, and then a burst of green-and-purple blood splattered out all over Shad and Telma and the entire back of the village as the rocks continued to crumble.

When the dust from the explosion finally died down, they saw a huge, limp, hairy leg dangling out from the rubble. A pair of large pincers lay on the ground, severed from the spider's face. There were even a few of its eyeballs scattered about the area. While Telma sighed with relief at their success, Shad bowed his head in sorrow. He had observed so little of the spider's behavior, and now his only specimen had had its head crushed by a falling rock. He was so upset, he didn't care that a huge drop of red blood fell onto his shoulder with a heavy thud. Telma heard the noise and looked up to see where the blood came from, and she wished she hadn't. She tapped Shad's arm and told him to look up, and when he did, he nearly threw up.

Above them were the mangled, half-eaten corpses of the legion of monsters in the area, dangling from the thin strands of webbing that remained unburnt.

"That's..." Shad said, swallowing hard. "That's just foul."

The situation got even worse as the webbing began to break, and body after body fell down into the Village streets, each one landing with a heavy thud. Thinking quickly, the two of them raced for the Village exit, dodging bodies as they dropped to the ground.

"So," Telma said as they ran. "Any idea of a name for that thing?"

"Yes." Shad replied. He stopped in front of the exit and turned around, his eyes set on the collapsed cave. Telma stopped shortly after. "I'm going to call it Grantula: The King of Arachnids." He sighed, bowing his head, and turned and followed Telma down the tunneled exit. His mind turned to his friends, and he wondered if perhaps they, too, had encountered an amazing creature such as the Grantula. Even Telma's thoughts turned to Link and the others, but she cared only for their safety. In their minds, both of them were thinking almost exactly the same thing.

_I hope the others are alright, regardless of what they encounter. _


	15. Chapter 14: Link and the Dragon Prince

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Link and the Dragon Prince_

"Brother!" Darbus exclaimed as Link walked into the main plaza at the foot of Death Mountain. The Hero was greeted by a body-crushing Goron hug as soon as Darbus had spotted him, and was gasping for breath when the giant Goron set him down. His whole body ached.

"Ugh," Link panted. "It's... good to see you too... Darbus." He coughed a couple times. Gor Coron walked up to him, patting him heavily on the back and nearly knocking him down.

"Welcome, Brother." He said. Link regained his stature and nodded to him. "We haven't seen you in many months. How goes the noble life?"

"It's good, I guess." Link responded. He was still a little out of breath. "The Nobility could be less expensive, and the fashion could be less pathetic, but otherwise life is great."

"That's good news, Brother!" Darbus said. "So what brings you to Death Mountain?" Link looked up and pointed to the Hylian Outpost at the top of the volcano. Darbus and Gor Coron followed his gaze until their eyes settled upon the stone structure. "Ah," Darbus continued. "That is a long way up. But I can get you there in no time! Just climb on my back, and I'll launch you up to it!" He reached down and grabbed Link by his shirt collar, then swung him around to his back and curled up into a ball. Link quickly stood on his feet and looked down at Gor Coron, who simply smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"You'll be fine, Brother." He said. "Many times has Darbus done this with humans. Just make sure to roll when you land to avoid hurting yourself." All of a sudden, Darbus' body began to shake, and Link braced himself for launch. He began counting to three, but Darbus had other plans, and launched him as soon as Link said "one". The Hero flew straight up the face of the volcano, the cold winter wind blowing into his face at a hundred miles an hour. He could only watch as the Outpost speedily came closer to him, and soon he began to slow down his ascent. He stopped and floated in midair just feet above the Outpost for a few seconds before dropping down into the center of the building. As Gor Coron had instructed, he rolled as soon as his feet touched the ground, suavely pushing himself back onto his feet. Around him, several Hylian soldiers stared in utter surprise at his sudden appearance. He paid them no mind and pushed through the doors of the Outpost.

From the doors, he found himself in a long tunnel, which glowed red from the center of the volcano. Dropping his winter coat, he jogged down the tunnel until he found himself on a ledge overlooking the volcanic tube. Down below, a large pool of magma illuminated the entire tube. Link almost became entranced by the beautiful glow when his eyes caught sight of a familiar person in dragon's armor off to the left of the pool. Startled, he stepped back, accidentally kicking a loose rock off the ledge and into the magma. Link reached for his sword, in case Volga had heard the rock plunge into the magma and decided to investigate.

Several seconds passed, and nothing happened. Link peered over the ledge, looking for any sign of Volga. The sorcerer was nowhere to be seen, and for a moment Link believed the heat was causing him to hallucinate. But his sharp wolf senses were telling him otherwise, and soon he heard a rock skim across the ledge and past his feet. In an instant, Link drew his blade and whirled around, feeling the familiar sensation of his blade against another as it clashed with Volga's. The dragon man smiled slightly, chuckling to himself. Link raised an eyebrow, wondering what what so funny to him.

"Oh, you heroes and your want to battle others." Volga said. "And here I thought I was the villain."

"I suppose attacking CastleTown with an army of Bokoblins doesn't ring a bell?" Link reminded him.

"No, that was Cia's army about one or two hours ago. It was a failed attempt, but I can assure you that I will succeed." Link scowled at Volga and breathed deeply, preparing to transform into Oni. Volga put a hand up to stop him. "Don't bother. Your alternate form no longer scares me. I have found something greater for myself." His body began to stretch and grow taller, and from his backside grew a long dragon's tail. His armor somehow melted into his skin, creating a hard coat of scales on his body. His face became a fire-breathing snout. He rose up into the air and began floating around the volcanic tube furiously, then dove down towards the magma. He bolted back up the tube, roaring and breathing fire. Link drew his shield to protect himself from the hot flames. Finally Volga stopped exhaling fire and simply levitated before Link, laughing deeply. "DO I SCARE YOU NOW, HERO? I AM VOLVAGIA, PRINCE OF DRAGONS!"

Link raised his shield just as Volvagia breathed a jet of fire at him, protecting him from the burning heat. Several times he did this while he searched his mind for a way to defeat the dragon.

"FIGHT ME, HERO!" Volvagia bellowed. "OR DO I HAVE TO BURN YOU FROM BEHIND?" Suddenly, Link's eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar metal track down below circling the tube, and his eyes lit up with a plan. He opened his pouch and pulled out his Spinner, quickly setting it on the ground and jumping onto it. He pushed off, riding the spinner off the ledge and towards the lava. For a moment, it looked to Volvagia as though he was committing suicide by sending himself into the lava, but the teeth on Link's spinner caught the track just in time, and the Hero began spinning around the room. Link traded his sword and shield for his bow and arrows and glanced up at Volvagia's face, smiling to himself. Volvagia roared and dashed headfirst towards him. He realized too late that Link's Spinner was a lot faster than he had thought, and he smacked his head into the wall of the tube. As the dragon recovered, Link noticed his mask had cracked from the impact, and he wondered if there was something underneath the mask that Volvagia was protecting.

Volvagia's eyes quickly caught sight of Link again, and he flew at him at a much faster speed than before. Thinking quickly, Link ducked as Volvagia drew near, and the dragon once again crashed into the wall, his mask breaking off entirely. Volvagia roared, his elongated body writhing. He whirled around to face Link, who by this time was on the opposite side of the room from him. Link grinned when he noticed a glowing green jewel on Volvagia's forehead, which was slightly cracked. He loaded an arrow onto his bowstring and drew back, aiming a little above the dragon's head. He fired, watching the arrow puncture the jewel. Volvagia wriggled in his snakelike body, slamming himself into wall after wall. The constant impact between the dragon and the wall caused Link's Spinner to come loose, forcing him to jump off and grab the ledge. He looked down to watch his Spinner plummet towards the lava, but - by a stroke of pure luck - Volvagia's tail caught it in midair and sent it flying back up onto the ledge, where it landed on its back and sat still. Link was about to climb up onto the ledge when Volvagia flew right into the tunnel, bashing his head against the wall one last time before falling to the ground and going limp.

Link pulled himself up and onto the ledge and pocketed his Spinner and bow away, then looked down the tunnel to Volvagia's shrinking body. He watched as the dragon slowly transformed back into a man, and he drew his sword and approached him. Volga groaned in pain, clutching his forehead as he lay on the ground. Part of his arm had remained untransformed, and in place of a human hand was a dragon's claw. Volga stood up weakly and faced the Hero, coughing a few times. He smiled slightly and thrust his arm out, grabbing Link's neck and raising him into the air. Link dropped his weapons and grabbed at Volga's dragon arm, trying to pry it off of him, but the dragon man's grip was too strong.

"Finally," Volga said. "I have you in my grasp. I told you I would succeed." He gripped tighter, and Link began to choke. Thinking of nothing else, he swung his leg out and kicked Volga across the face, causing the dragon man to let go of him and stumble backwards. Link made a backflip onto his feet, kneeling down briefly to pick up his sword. Volga lunged towards him, claw outstretched. Link sidestepped his advance and kicked him in the back, sending him tumbling to the ground again. Volga stood up again and lashed out at the Hero, grabbing his sword. Link thrust the sword up through his fingers to break his grasp, then performed a quick spin attack and cut Volga's stomach open. Volga cried out in pain and fell to his knees, clutching his stomach. Link pointed his sword at him, the tip just barely grazing his neck. Volga swallowed hard.

"I spared you once." Link said. "I don't intend to make the same mistake again." He raised his sword in the air, ready to cut through the dragon man's neck. In a desperate attempt to escape, Volga backflipped out of the way of Link's blade and off the ledge. Link waited a moment before walking towards the ledge. As soon as he took his first step, Volga flew up from the lava pool whilst in his dragon form and out of the volcano, roaring as he flew away from the area. Link sighed with relief, and was about to leave when he noticed a horde of monsters jump at him from the top of the volcano. Most of them fell past the ledge and down into the lava, and those that landed on the ledge were cut down by Link's blade before they could recover. It was no battle, but it gave Link the satisfaction of disposing of even a few monsters. He hadn't been able to kill Volga, and so this was his temporary replacement. But in his mind, he vowed to end Volga and the other two sorcerers, no matter the cost.

_Third time's the charm, right? He's not getting away again. I wonder if, perhaps, any of the others have been able to get rid of the other two._

* * *

><p>Volga landed hard against the stone pavement that led up to the sorcerer's fortress behind Death Mountain. He groaned, as not only did his stomach sting from the sword wound, but now his whole body ached from the impact with the stone. Fortunately for him, his armor had protected him from breaking anything. He looked up at Death Mountain, scowling as his mind pieced together the battle he had just endured. Several times his mind turned to Link, and he growled at the thought of seeing his face.<p>

_Next time we meet, Hero, I will destroy everything you know and love. Nothing shall escape me!_

He carefully stood up and looked off to the east, past Death Mountain. He knew of a secret place that no one in Hyrule knew of, far away from the kingdom itself. It was a place where he could recover from his wounds and train himself for when he next faced the Hero. Mustering up what little strength he had left, he transformed once again into his dragon form and flew off in the direction of Corea.


	16. Chapter 15: Midna and the King of Evil

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART ONE: Monsters and Magic<strong>  
><em>

_CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Midna and the King of Evil_

Of the many things Midna had seen in her lifetime, nothing was more supernatural than the legendary Sand Goddess, save for the Twilight Realm. The Sand Goddess was beautiful, but deadly. Kind, but full of wrath. She was a most exquisite figure of both loveliness and Hellishness, and with few exceptions did she allow anyone into her realm. She was a most territorial Goddess, and anyone she deemed unworthy to enter her lands was immediately sucked up into the sand and suffocated. Midna wondered how the Bulblins - before their extinction - managed to build an entire fortress in the Desert.

The one thing about the Sand Goddess that Midna currently did not enjoy was the fact that she was quite upset with just about everyone within the range of her wrath. She currently seemed to be having a dispute with a tall, skeletal figure covered in thin black robes. Midna did not recognized the robed figure by facial or vocal recognition. Rather, she knew this figure simply by its presence and the ugly aura it radiated. No one other than Death himself made her so afraid.

Because of the dispute, she and the soldiers at the Outpost were forced to abandon the building and return to the far edge of the Desert, to the beach that marked the Eastern border of Hyrule to the Great Sea. Beyond the Sea lay Mareden, Corea, Narine, and several other countries, but many races of the world believed that there was one mysterious country in the East that only the dead could get to. Though Midna herself did not believe in such a myth, she hoped none of the soldiers from the Outpost would have to travel there.

As she watched the dispute, she noticed a man that looked oddly familiar standing atop a nearby mound of sand to the South. Like Death, the man wore black robes, though they were much thicker than Death's own. Midna could barely make out the man's main features, but the most noticeable of all was his white hair.

_Odd. I feel like I've seen him before. _

As if he had read her thoughts, Death immediately turned to Midna, then off in the direction she was looking. He did not spot the same figure, yet he felt an odd disturbance in the balance of the Underworld, and suddenly he disappeared, leaving the Sand Goddess to deal with her issues elsewhere. Enraged that Midna had somehow interrupted their dispute, she dissolved into a pile of sand and reappeared directly in front of the Twilight Princess, her kind face filled with malice.

_"How _dare _you interrupt our conflict!" _She bellowed. The soldiers shuddered in their armor, leaving only Midna unafraid of her. She stood defiantly before the Goddess, folding her arms and staring into the deity's eyes.

"You don't scare me." She proclaimed. Still the Goddess appeared deadly and dangerous before her, but Midna's emotions were unchanging. "You are simply a product of Gerudo magic. I know there were only four actual goddesses: Din, Nayru, Farore, and Hylia. Therefore, you are false."

_"You may be right in that case, but I am still powerful, and you will kneel before me before I destroy you and your soldiers and feed your souls to the Underworld!" _She produced a golden longsword from the sand and pointed the sharp end of it at Midna. In return, Midna summoned a pure white blade made by the Six Sages of Hyrule - the same blade Ganondorf used so many years ago - and pushed the Goddess' blade to one side. She grinned, and suddenly four ancient-looking pieces of armor appeared and began floating around her until they situated themselves on separate parts of her body. Then she began to glow with an eerie light and grow, becoming as tall as fifty feet and growing multiple limbs. In one of what was now seven hands, she held her sword. In another, a golden spear. She stared down at the Sand Goddess, who scowled with anger. She, too, grew up to Midna's new height, meeting the Twili at eye level.

"Let the games begin." Midna said through her armor. She swung her sword out, bringing it down on the Sand Goddess' head. The Goddess reacted by swinging her sword in front of her face, deflecting Midna's blade away. She took a swing at the Twili and hacked down on one of her limbs. Midna roared in her monstrous form and grabbed hold of the Goddess' sword, crushing the blade into sand. She got right up in the Goddess' face and growled, but the Sand Goddess did little to show her fear, and swung her blade out at Midna's head. Midna ducked and swung her golden spear at her, the sharp end slicing a gash through her cheek.

Below the two giants, the soldiers heard a mighty horn ring out from the Western part of the desert. Immediately following, a legion of Bokoblins and Lizalfos charged towards them, screaming loudly and holding their weapons high in the air. The soldiers counter-charged, and soon the two forces met at the giants' feet. As they fought against the legion, Midna grabbed hold of the Sand Goddess' waist and flipped her through the air, slamming her down onto the ground and overtop the majority of the monster legion. Without hesitation, she grabbed hold of the Goddess' neck and squeezed. Instead of choking, the Goddess simply cried out as the Gerudo magic that held her together disappeared from her body and was absorbed into the armor of Midna's monstrous form. As the magic vanished, the Goddess' body disintegrated into trillions upon trillions of tiny sand particles, covering the remainder of the monster legion in sand, which quickly suffocated them. Only the soldiers remained unharmed.

As Midna shrunk down into her true form, she was approached by many of the soldiers, who began praising her for her magical abilities. Midna embraced the praise, but the moment was short-lived. Another monster's horn sounded off in the distance, and from the South came an even larger army of monsters, almost ten times that of the first legion. Midna would have thought little of the army, but there was something odd about it. Something extremely supernatural.

_The entire army is made up of Bulblins!_

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the Outpost soldiers charging towards the Bulblins until after they were completely run over by large boars and trampled upon. Upon seeing this, she turned and ran as fast as she could away from the army. As she ran, she noticed the Twilit portal hovering over the Sages' Chamber in the Arbiter's Grounds, and she quickly snapped her fingers and disappeared in front of the Bulblins' eyes.

When Midna reappeared, she was immediately shoved into a huge black stone and held back by a pair of Dinolfos. She tried warping out of the Chamber, but she was so tired from running and warping that she could hardly stand. The Dinolfos quickly chained her to the stone and stepped back, allowing a man with white hair and black robes to step forward and look into Midna's eyes. When she saw him, she jumped back and kicked out with her legs, causing the man to step back and laugh.

"Oh, so you _do _recognize me?" He said. "I don't think you've seen me more than once."

"I know a tyrant when I see one, you bastard." She spat. "How are-"

"-Oh, we were resurrected from the dead via a certain portal." He paced the area around her. "It took some time to pull it off, but we've completely cheated Death, now." Midna watched him as he paced, her mind totally confused.

"We?" She asked. "Who else has returned from the dead?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He stepped back, and around him appeared four black portals. Immediately, a man rose out of each portal, all with the same menacing expression on their faces. One of them Midna easily recognized as Zant, the usurper who had long ago overthrown her and corrupted her kingdom. Another had white hair as well, but he was dressed in a skimpy white outfit with a red cloak covering his back, shoulders, and chest. A third was simply a shadowy clone of Link, and the last one...

"Ganondorf." Midna said, speaking in a low voice. The Dark Lord smiled, pleased that the Twilight Princess had remembered his name. He turned to the white-haired man in black robes and bowed his head slightly.

"Well done, my son." He said. "It seems you do have cunning after all. Of course, you still lack proper leadership skills."

"Which is why you shouldn't have told him to carry out your legacy, my lord." The second white-haired man said. "After all, Kyrus is only a boy."

"A compliment turned into a reinforced insult," Kyrus said, pretending to be shocked. "I'm honored, Ghirahim, for your input." He stuck his middle finger in the air and directed it towards the second white-haired man, who chuckled evilly and returned the gesture.

"Please, my friends." Ganondorf said. "We have a guest. Let's not dispute in front of her."

"Oh, no," Midna said. "Please go on. I could use a good laugh from the lot of you." She stood up on her feet, some of her strength returned. Her body began to dissipate into tiny black squares. "Then again, I have friends to get back to."

"By all means, go." Ganondorf said. "But know this: Your little war here has only just begun. In a short time, we will overtake Hyrule and subject it to the permanent rule of shadows. After that, we need only extract the full Triforce from its Guardian, and our quest will be completed." As he finished, Midna quickly disappeared from the scene, leaving the five villains behind to watch the army of Bulblins begin the reconstruction of their fortress. Ganondorf chuckled to himself.

_Oh, yes. After five thousand years, I will finally reach my long-lasting goal. And this time, nothing will stand in my way. _

* * *

><p>Midna appeared in the middle of Central CastleTown, collapsing upon arrival. A light flurry floated around her, and as she looked around the market, she saw a trio of young men approach her. One of them was tall, thin and had blonde hair and a big nose. Another was short and stout, and the third was very tall, very muscular, and had his hair styled into a goofy red pompadour. They knelt down beside her, looking her over.<p>

"Who do you think this is, Groose?" The fat boy said in his nasally voice. Midna was too weak to answer.

"She looks like royalty." The thin boy pointed out. "Maybe she lives in that castle." He looked up at the Castle looming over them.

"Boys, please," The pompadoured boy said, his voice deep and loud. "Clearly she's a symbol of royalty. Only I, the great Groose, would know these things. Come on, let's bring her into that castle up there. Maybe there's a Princess or somebody that knows her." He scooped her into his arms and carried her towards the Castle, his two cronies following right behind him. Midna lay curled up in his arms, her eyes trained on his pompadour. She watched it wave from side to side with every step he took, the movement of it mesmerizing her into a deep sleep. Before she entered her subconscious, however, she heard him say one last thing. "Gee, her skin's like two different colors. Wonder what race she is?"

"T-Twili." She stuttered, her voice weak. "I-I'm a Twili." She fell into unconsciousness before he could say anything else.


	17. Chapter 16: Portals from the Past

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Portals From The Past_

Link sat in his study, his face buried in his hands as he thought about the recent events that had just taken place. Following the end of the day the Hyrule Warriors were to take back Hyrule, their plans had quickly backfired after news of a massive Bulblin invasion spread all over the country. Already the Outposts that had been secured were overrun by the somewhat intelligent monsters, and no sign of any victory could be seen. There were hundreds of Bulblins at each Outpost now, keeping a very close watch on their stolen territory. What baffled Link the most about the invasion was the fact that it was made up entirely of Bulblins, which had been extinct for three years now.

_Where did they come from? How did they get here? Who could have summoned them?_

The answers he had to the questions in his mind were all the same: he didn't know. All he knew was that Ordon Village, Kakariko City, Zora's Domain and CastleTown became the only safe havens in Hyrule about a week ago. Those who were living in other areas of Hyrule had to evacuate to these four communities to escape the Bulblin threat.

As Link's mind flipped through the current conditions in Hyrule, he heard a light knock on his door. He quickly bade entry to his guest, and the door opened for Zelda and a wheelchair-bound Midna, who had seriously lost her energy whilst in the Desert and couldn't yet walk again. Link stood up for the two royals and waited for Zelda to sit in a chair opposite him before he sat down. Midna steered her chair into the empty space next to the Queen and rested her elbows on Link's desk.

"So," Link said. "What brings the two of you here?" The two royals briefly looked at each other nervously, then turned their heads back to Link. Zelda was trying her hardest to refrain from breaking down into tears, whereas Midna was simply distressed and concerned.

"We have some bad news for you, Link." Midna said. Zelda snuffled a bit, so Link pushed a box of tissues towards her. She took one and blew her nose quietly.

"What news could be worse than the possible downfall of Hyrule?" Link asked. He, too, was distressed, and couldn't imagine anything worse than the Bulblins overtaking the land. He wasn't even concerned about the three sorcerers that had been terrorizing the country for over a week now. They were severely weakened from the Hyrule Warriors' attacks, and Zelda had almost paid for it with her life. Volga had been especially quiet after Link had last dealt with him.

"Link, when I was in the Desert, I..." Midna's voice trailed off, and she looked away. She furiously thought of how she was going to explain to him what she had seen in the Desert, but she couldn't find any easy way to say it. Finally, she gave up and told him everything. "I saw him. Ganondorf... and four of his minions. I recognized Zant and Kyrus, but there was another man called Ghirahim that I didn't know, and then there was this shadowy person that looked exactly like you, and-"

"-Did you just say Kyrus was there as well?" Link asked her. He couldn't at all believe his late cousin had been resurrected from the dead. Even Ganondorf, who unfortunately happened to be his uncle, was a surprise. Midna sighed, nodding her head. Link slouched back in his chair, pushing his hair back in frustration. "So, what do you suggest we do? Given your current state, Midna, you're in no shape to fight, and neither is Zelda, after her encounter with Cia last week. The others are too busy trying to keep the last four safe areas in Hyrule from being overrun by the undead, so basically I'm the only one who has any time at all to do anything about this war." As if on cue, the door opened, and in stepped three strapping young men, each with swords clipped to their belts. One was short and fat, another was tall, skinny, & had a big nose, and the third was tall, muscular, and wore his bright red hair in a slick pompadour.

"My friends," The pompadoured man said. "That's no longer a problem." Link's eyes darted in between the three of them, and he felt too upset to be angry that three strangers had just walked in on his conversation uninvited.

"Who exactly are you three?" He asked. The pompadoured man grinned, and began performing a series of poses to show off his muscles. His first pose was bent down on one knee, facing his short, fat friend.

"This here is Cawlin, my trusty advisor." He said proudly. "He gives me all sorts of great advice that helps me overcome all dangers!" He struck a new pose, staying on one knee and turning to his taller friend, stretching out one arm and pointing up at his face. "This is Strich, my strategist. He knows all the best ways to get through a battle with minimum casualties!" Then he made his final pose, standing up on both feet and gripping one of his biceps proudly. "I'm the brains of the operation. Groose is the name, and tech's my game! I'm a one-man army with my explosive inventions!" Link rolled his eyes, groaning to himself.

_I ask for help, and I get three idiots. Especially this Groose guy. They must be from Skyloft; judging by their clothes. But Groose acts... different from the one I met._

Suddenly it dawned on him: These three were from the past. He immediately remembered the portals from Zelda's dream, and soon everything began to come together. If these three were here because of the portal, then there was obviously a reason for it. Perhaps it was no coincidence that, after his entire team of friends had exhausted themselves from the Outpost Attempt, these three - and possibly more - had come to his aid in his time of need. If they were as good as they said they were, Link knew in his heart that he would have to trust them. He pushed his sign-up sheet towards them, briefly explaining what it was.

"If you want to fight as members of the Hyrule Warriors," He said. "Just sign this sheet of paper." He placed a pen down on top of the paper. Groose went first, picking up the pen and quickly scribbling his name down on the paper. He stepped aside as Cawlin and Strich followed his actions, signing their own names. Link pulled the paper and pen back and looked up at the three of them, forcing a slight smile. "Welcome to the Hyrule Warriors, boys." He reached out to shake their hands, but a frantic knock at the door interrupted him. Link bade his newest guest entry, and in walked his butler, completely flustered.

"Sir Link," He said. He then turned and bowed to the two royals in the room. "Your Majesties, there is something amazing happening outside! You must come and see!" He bowed again and left, with Groose and his comrades following closely behind. Zelda wheeled Midna out of the room, Link walking briskly beside them and shutting the study doors as they entered the hallway. Link's butler opened up the front doors for them, and they stepped out into the chilled air of CastleTown in the afternoon. None of them bothered to put on coats, as the temperatures were a few degrees Celsius above freezing. As they stepped down onto the roads of Central CastleTown, two huge portals suddenly appeared from nowhere, seeming to tear holes in the winter air. From them stepped several people, some of them armed with bows or swords, others with magical abilities. As these strange people came out from the portals, more and more CastleTown civilians stepped out of their houses to watch the phenomenon. Many people murmured to each other about where the portals came from. Some said "black magic", whereas others believed it to be "a gift from the gods".

Once all of the strangers had stepped onto the cold pavement of the CastleTown square, the portals disappeared as quickly as they had come. The strangers all looked around at the place surrounding them, not bothering to notice Link walking towards them, Zelda and Midna close behind him. Groose and his comrades soon followed.

"Excuse me," Link said, causing the strangers to turn their heads toward him. "My name is Link. I'm the Hero of Twilight and the leader of a group of elite fighters called the Hyrule Warriors." He gestured to the people behind him. "This is Queen Zelda, of Hyrule, and Princess Midna, of the Twilight Realm. Behind them are the most recent additions to my team: Groose, Cawlin, and Strich." Immediately, the strangers knelt on one knee, acknowledging Zelda's and Midna's authorities. For a moment, Groose believed they were bowing to him, but a quick nudge to the side from Cawlin made him realize it was the royals these strangers were bowing to.

"Queen Zelda," A pompous man in yellow robes said. "It is an honor to be in the presence of Your Majesty and your friend, the Twilight Princess." He stood up slowly, the other strangers following suit. "I trust you remember me as Rauru, Sage of Light?"

"I know each one of you," Zelda said. "And I acknowledge you as Sages of Hyrule. But where is the Sage of Shadows?"

"It seems Impa has already been with you these many years." Saria, the Sage of Forest, said. "After all, she has pledged herself to serving the Hylian Royal Family for all time."

"I didn't know the Impa from our day was the same Sage of Shadows." Link said to Zelda. He redirected his attention to the strangers. "And who are the rest of you?" He asked. Immediately, a girl in a farmer's dress stepped up, her ginger-colored hair blowing in the chilly wind.

"I'm Malon, from Lon Lon Ranch." She said, smiling. She quickly winked at Link, who blushed and looked away slightly, directing his attention to the three remaining strangers who had not yet introduced themselves. One of them, a Zora, stepped forward and bowed slightly.

"My name is Mikau." He said. "I am a member of a popular Zora band in Termina called the Indigo-gos." He gestured to the two strangers behind him, starting with the large, grey Goron and ending with a man with dark blue hair. "This is Darmani, leader of Termina's Goron tribe, and Kafei, owner of the Stock Pot Inn in ClockTown." The three Terminians bowed respectfully, to which Link reacted with his own bow.

"Well," He said, standing up straight. "Now that we have all properly introduced ourselves, I'm afraid we must immediately get down to business on behalf of the war effort."

* * *

><p>In a lonely, dark corner of the arena in his house, Bo whimpered quietly, still mourning the loss of his daughter. Around him lay several empty or spilled bottles of whiskey, as well as a large, smelly puddle of vomit. To others, he simply looked like a fat, miserable old man who would be better off dead. This belief made him feel as though no one truly understood his grief, and so he continued to weep and drink his woes away.<p>

As he wept, memories of Link's most recent visit poured into his mind. He remembered the Hero's harsh words well, and knew in his heart that, as Mayor, he couldn't sit around and waste away like this. Not anymore.

"Enough." Bo said to himself as he weakly stood from the puddle of vomit. Across the room was a bath, which Uli had drawn for him hours ago. Bo sloppily stepped over to the bath and dunked his head under the cold water for a few seconds. When he came back up, he grabbed a clean towel and dried his face, then threw the towel over the side of the bath and walked up to the center of the arena. Memories of his early days as a wrestler now flooded his mind, his once-powerful muscled body becoming an image glued into his brain. Using this image as motivation, he dropped to the floor of the arena and began pushing his body up and down, grunting each time he went up. His arms quickly became tired and began to ache, but he ignored the pain and kept going. Nothing, not even human weakness, was going to stop him from reclaiming his title.

_I'm doing this for you, Ilia. I'm going to become the father and Mayor I should have been all these years. I can promise you that._


	18. Chapter 17: The War Truly Begins

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The War Truly Begins_

In a large bunker underneath Hyrule Castle's basement level were rows upon rows of weapons, armor, and heavy machinery, most of which were thought up by Groose himself. Link had offered to inspect the weapons and armor, just to be sure they were fit for war, instead of fit to fall apart at the slightest touch. Each of the weapons were made of a strong Hyrule-native steel, including swords, shields, maces, bows, spears, and two new types of guns, one that had an automatic reloading mechanism built into it. Link particularly liked these, as they no longer required the long, tedious process of manually reloading a bullet into the chamber. All he had to do now was cock the gun once, and it was ready to fire again. The other type of gun was basically a smaller version of the first rifle, which was named as a "pistol". These guns were simply for use in private duels, rather than in a full-scale battlefield.

The armor, Link noticed, was made out of a material he immediately recognized as the same metal used for every set of armor in Kyrus' army. There was no official name for it, though most scholars referred to it as "Alkorium". The name stuck, but the metal of the armor was said to have been melted down and disposed of. Now it made its appearance once more in the bunker underneath the Castle, but it carried a different shape than that of Alkorian design. Link was curious as to how the metal still remained in Hyrule.

"Groose," He shouted across the bunker. Groose, who had accompanied him throughout part of the inspection, was looking around at the heavy machinery that lined the farthest wall from the bunker entrance. He turned as soon as his name had been called, but he didn't leave his position.

"Yeah?" He shouted back to the Hero.

"Where did you find all of this Alkorium?" Link asked.

"Oh, yeah." Groose snickered. "I heard there was a huge pile of armor in some 'hidden village' northwest of here, and so I took a bunch of guys and went to collect the stuff. Ugly armor, I'll tell you that. But it sure is strong metal. We melted it down and then reforged most of it into a good few thousand suits. Took us way past New Year's, but it's all worth it. Beauties, aren't they?" Link had to agree with him. The armor, once a rough, spiked design made with horrid smithing skills was now a smooth, comfortable suit that the Hylian soldiers would pay insane amounts of money for, just to get out of the painful, uncomfortable suits of armor they always wore. Fortunately for them, the armor was free, so long as they were still diligent enough to fight more monster hordes.

"So, what about the rest of the metal?" Link inquired. Groose glanced around at the heavy machinery and smiled.

"You're lookin' at it." He gestured to the machinery. "These bad boys are a new variation of an old weapon I like to call the 'Groosenator'. They're basically mobile cannons - tanks, as your friend Shad calls 'em - but I've got my own name for them: The Groosenator Two!" He raised his hands in the air as if he was being praised for his "ingenious" name. Link couldn't help but snicker a little bit at the downgrading name Groose had given them. He much preferred "tank", as it was a more fitting name for the hulking weapon.

"Groose, you've been here for what? Two weeks now?" He guessed. "Already you've managed to create an arsenal of armor and weapons fit for war. For most people, it would take much longer to produce something of this scale, but you... I think I'd grant you the title of Head Weapons Engineer in the Hylian Army, if I had the authority."

"Aw, you flatter me too much." Groose replied, scratching the back of his head. "But thanks. Any chance we'll get to use 'em soon?"

"If you'll come to the war meeting in the Queen's quarters, you'll get your answer."

* * *

><p>Most of the Hyrule Warriors were gathered in Zelda's quarters, talking amongst themselves as they waited for Link, Groose, and the new Hylian General to arrive. The new General was named Uriah, who was an older, more experienced warrior than that of Ken. Zelda hadn't worried too much about the former General, though occasionally she would see him in his small home with a book and pen in hand. Other than that, he was unusually quiet lately.<p>

At last, General Uriah entered the room, Link and Groose following close behind. Groose was carrying a folded up easel over his shoulder. He followed the General up to the front of the room, where he set the easel down and began putting large scrolls on its front. Link sat down next to Zelda, resting a foot on his knee and putting his arm around Zelda's shoulder. She suddenly cleared her throat and looked at Link, a bit flustered.

"Oh, sorry." Link said, realizing he was still in public. He folded his arms and looked up at the General, who was waiting for Groose to finish setting up the easel. Soon Groose sat down, and a Hylian soldier took his place at the easel as Uriah started.

"I just want to give my thanks before we begin." He said. He looked over at Link. "First, I'd like to thank Sir Link here for his willingness to continue to serve as the Hero, despite his noble status, and for his idea to bring about the organization of the most powerful group of fighters in the kingdom." There was a brief applaud from the handful of people in the room as Link nodded in acknowledgment to the statement. "Second, I'd like to thank Mr. Groose here for his contribution to the war effort. I doubt we'll have a hard time keeping the monsters at bay with the weapons he's created from that pile of Alkorian armor in the Hidden Village." There was another brief applaud, and Groose gave a big thumbs-up to the General, a cheesy grin on his face. "Now, I'm just going to be brief on the attendance, so bear with me for a moment." Uriah began listing off the names of the Hyrule Warriors in attendance, going in alphabetical order. Only the Six Sages - save Impa - were not in the meeting.

"Ashei."  
>"Cawlin."<br>"Darmani."  
>"Groose."<br>"Impa."  
>"Kafei."<br>"Lana."  
>"Link."<br>"Malon."  
>"Midna."<br>"Mikau."  
>"Rusl."<br>"Shad."  
>"Strich."<br>"Telma."  
>"Zelda."<p>

Each warrior announced their presence with a simple "here", which made the attendance roll much easier for Uriah to mark. He rolled up the attendance and handed it to a nearby soldier, then began to speak.

"Now," He said, directing his attention to the easel. The first scroll that was in view was one of an entire map of Hyrule. There were several red, purple, and blue dots marked all over it. "To make things clearer, the blue dots represent our territory, which is mostly the Ordona Province, Death Mountain & Kakariko Village, Zora's Domain, and CastleTown. The red dots are the areas in which our enemies reside, which is practically everywhere else. The purple dots represent the several known leaders of the enemy, located in Arbiter's Grounds, Southern Gerudo Desert, the Sacred Grove, Snowpeak, and Lake Hylia. We're staying away from the Arbiter's Grounds for now, as that is the heart of the enemy, and I want all of us to be present for that battle." The soldier at the board flipped the map up and over the top of the easel. The scroll behind it was another map of Hyrule, this time with several numbered red X's marked on it.

"These X's mark the one enemy outpost in each of these areas which the monsters protect." Uriah continued. "The goal is to attack and destroy the outpost in each area, thus claiming the territory for our own. We are to attack - starting today - in numerical order, beginning in Southern Hyrule Field, moving down to Lake Hylia, and then all the way around the kingdom until we have liberated all but the Arbiter's Grounds. Then we attack the Grounds and end this war." The soldier at the board again flipped up the scroll over the top of the easel, revealing a third scroll. This time, it was a diagram of the tank that Groose had invented, each feature carefully labeled so as to not confuse those who would be operating them.

"These are..." Uriah stopped and looked at the name written underneath the diagram. "Groosenators?"

"Groosenator Two, actually." Groose corrected, a smirk on his face. Shad bowed his head, frowning.

"The weapon is called that by Groose alone," He said. "I refer to it as a tank, or a mobile cannon."

"Thanks, Shad." Uriah said. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, these tanks are basically cannons on wheels. They are to be operated by two Gorons and two Hylian soldiers. The Gorons will be in charge of using the handles on each side of the tank to move it around. The handles control the front wheels, allowing the cooperating Gorons to turn the tank on command. The cannon itself is turned and fired by one Hylian soldier, and loaded by the other. The Gorons will carry bags of cannonballs on their backs, allowing the soldiers to quickly grab ammunition, load it into the cannon, aim, and fire." He looked around at all of the Warriors. "These tanks are the muscle of the army. They are nearly indestructible due to their Alkorium armor, and thus they will be key in destroying each enemy outpost. We have a total of two dozen tanks, so plan your operators accordingly. Thank you, and long live Hyrule."

"Long live Hyrule!" The Warriors said in unison. They quickly began to dissemble, leaving the room in a hurry to prepare for the upcoming battle that evening. Link waited until everyone else except Zelda had left, and then shut the door behind them. Zelda was about to enter her closet to change into the proper battle attire, but she quickly noticed he was still in the room, and stopped in her tracks.

"You're still here." She said. Link nodded.

"Zelda, I've been thinking." He said nervously. Zelda sat down on her bed to listen to him. "Our relationship has been a very well-kept secret, yes?"

"Of course it has. Well, not from Midna, and Telma & her friends. Why?"

"Well, I think it's time we... open up." Link looked into the Queen's eyes expectantly, but all he saw was shock.

"You mean..." She trailed off for a moment. "Announce it? But that is rather informal, unless we were to be married."

"Exactly." Link said. He stepped towards her, reaching into his pouch for something. He knelt down on one knee and pulled out a very expensive diamond ring, holding it out to her. She gasped, placing her hands over her mouth. She tried to say something, but no words came out. So Link continued. "When all of this is over, Zelda, I want to ask for your hand in marriage."

"I... I..." Zelda stuttered. Tears began to flow from her eyes, and she bowed her head. "Yes. Yes, I will marry you, Link." Link smiled, and proceeded to slide the ring onto her left ring finger, but she quickly stopped him. "Not yet. Not now. I don't want to lose it." She took the ring from him and placed it in a drawer. "But, when the time comes... when this war ends, we will be together forever." Link stood up and lifted her onto her feet, pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss. Their lips meshed together so comfortably, as though they were made for each other. For what seemed like a long time, it was just the two of them in the entire world, their lips never parting. Then, finally, their embrace broke, and the two of them returned from their dreamworld and into the present once more. Zelda's eyes soon lit up with realization.

"I have something I've been meaning to give you." She said. She stepped into her closet for a moment and pulled down a long blue scarf that was neatly folded in her arms. She held the scarf out to Link, and he took it and unraveled it in his arms. "I made it myself," Zelda continued. "I was going to give it to you for Christmas, but then the war happened, and I was afraid I'd have to withhold it until after it was over."

"It's alright." Link said, wrapping the scarf around his neck once, letting the rest of it hang down behind his shoulder. "Thank you, Zelda."

"You're welcome," Zelda nodded. "Now go get yourself ready. The soldiers are all waiting to leave on my orders, and I'd rather you didn't hold me up." Link chuckled, quickly kissing her lips again before leaving the room. Zelda stood still for a moment, thinking about what had just happened. She was happy for the two of them, but at the same time, she worried Link would somehow get himself killed during the following battles.

_Just trust him. That's all I need to do. After all, he's the Triforce Guardian. He'll be fine._

* * *

><p>The monsters in Southern Hyrule Field were expecting the Hylians to attack their outpost, but what they weren't expecting was the two dozen Alkorium tanks being driven onto the battlefield. In seconds, there were several craters blown into the ground, sending monsters flying in all directions. The Hylian foot soldiers had engaged the enemy, mowing the monsters down with their new weapons. None of the monsters' weapons could pierce the thick, heavy Alkorium armor that the Hylians wore, thus allowing the armor itself to act as a shield against fatal blows.<p>

The Hyrule Warriors had spread themselves out among the battlefield, taking out numerous monsters and securing more territory for the Hylians to defend. Link and Zelda remained close to each other, their blades cutting down even the largest monsters without too much effort. They never left each other's side, and always one of them would cover the other should the occasion present itself. Which it did in many cases.

The battle had not lasted more than a few minutes before a seductive laugh echoed throughout the battlefield, causing both Hylian and monster to stop in their tracks. Soon, a tall, slender young woman in a very revealing outfit appeared from nowhere, looking around at the battle before her through her crow's mask. Her eyes eventually settled on Link and Zelda, who had their blades raised in defense against her. She watched as Zelda's free hand hovered over her chest, covering the permanent scar that marked the failed assassination attempt on her life. The woman smiled, then shot out a burst of energy at the Queen, hoping this time that it would kill her.

In a hasty move, Link stepped in front of Zelda as the energy hurtled towards her, taking in the full force of the attack as it slammed into his body. The woman frowned at him, but soon realized that he was the one she wanted alive. Quickly, she snapped her fingers, disappearing into thin air. Link's body began to disappear as well, but just as he was about to leave entirely from the battlefield, the Triforce glowed on his right hand, and from it came two pieces of the sacred relic, one of which entering Zelda's body, the other finding its way into Midna's. Then, finally, Link vanished, and the battle continued. But Zelda could only stand and stare at the very spot where Link once stood, and her eyes quickly welled up with tears. Within seconds, Impa was by her side, lifting her onto her feet and helping her onto a nearby horse. The Sage mounted herself behind Zelda and cracked the reins, and the two of them left the battlefield without saying a word.

Midna watched as the two of them raced back to the Castle, then looked down at the Triforce of Power, which glowed brightly on her hand. Silently, she prayed to the goddesses for the first time, asking that Link remained safe, and that the Triforce remained under the protection of those who hold it with a good heart. Then she turned her attention back to the battlefield, her mind focused on the goals of the mission. But in her thoughts, she knew she had to keep her piece of the Triforce safe.

* * *

><p>Link awoke on a stone path, looking up at a tall statue of a young man who looked remarkably like him. The hair was different, as was the facial features and the way he held the Master Sword, which gave Link the impression that this wasn't a statue of him, but of his ancestor, the Hero of Time. Around this statue were four more statues, each of a different incarnation of the Hero. One was of the same Hero of Time in a younger form, holding up a heart-shaped mask in his hand. Another was of the Hero of the Sky riding on the top of a Loftwing, holding the Master Sword high in the air. The other two statues, he realized, were of him in two different forms. One statue was of him in his wolf form, and the other in his human form. Surrounding the five statues were yet four more pedestals, each with no statue, save one. This statue was, again, of Link, but this time it was of his alternate deity form, Oni. This was a different Oni, however.<p>

"Do you like them?" A voice came from behind him. He whirled around to face Cia, who was still clad in the outfit she wore when she had kidnapped him. Her crow's mask had disappeared, revealing a face much like Lana's. She had white hair, and there were red markings on her face. She smiled at him seductively. Link reached for his sword, only to find it was no longer there. "You have no need for your sword, Link. I have no wish to harm you." She stepped closer to him. "You're in my safe haven: the Garden of Shadows. Here you will remain in peace for eternity. You will have no need to travel outside, and, when this war ends, we will be together forever."


	19. Chapter 18: Deals with the Devil

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Deals with the Devil_

Link searched frantically for some way to escape his prison, smacking walls and kicking the ground for any signs of weakness, or perhaps a hidden door. He had been going about this for hours, and yet he still had no luck. But he refused to remain inside the Garden of Shadows. He had to get back to Hyrule, to his people, to Zelda. He couldn't stay here and live with some evil sorceress forever.

Cia watched him from atop the statue of him in his wolf form. She sighed and giggled a bit, finding it funny that Link would even want to escape. Everything a man wanted was here: Worship, bounteous food, a beautiful woman that loved every inch of him. It was all here, and yet Link wanted nothing to do with it. All he wanted was to get out.

"Oh, stop it." She finally said. "You don't need to leave. Everything a man like you wants is here. Where else would you rather be?"

"Anywhere but here." Link said, pounding on a rock wall. No sign of a weak spot. He sighed and rested his head against the wall. "What do you want with me, Cia?"

"Technically, I just want the Triforce. But since you're here, I might as well say that I want you." Cia looked at him seductively. He raised an eyebrow, looking quite disgusted at her remarks.

"You want my power?" He asked. Cia shook her head.

"No, not now. Just... you." She stepped down from the statue and approached him, placing her hands on his shoulders and gently massaging them. As uncomfortable as he felt, Link somehow felt relieved of the tension in his shoulders. But he quickly remembered who it was that was doing it, and jerked his shoulders away from her.

"No." He snapped. "No, I'm not going to submit to your... lust. Not in a million years." Cia smiled at him, giggling again.

"Fine. I'll make you a deal. You give me the full Triforce, and I'll let you go. If you try to keep it, then I keep you here, and you do whatever I want you to do. Understood?" Link shook his head, chuckling to himself. He knew what she was playing at, and he wasn't about to buy it.

"You villains are all the same." He said. "Making up lies just to get what you want. You're despicable." He faced away from her now, looking up into the cloudy skies above. He could see a herd of geese flying overhead, and he wished dearly that he could just fly out of his prison and join them. But he was limited to the ground, and neither his human nor wolf nor deity forms could get him out. It seemed as though this "Garden of Shadows" was enchanted so that no one imprisoned inside of it could leave, unless one had wings like a Rito, or even a Loftwing to carry him out.

"Well," Cia said. "A deal's a deal. I see your want to leave. Hand me the Triforce, Link, and I promise I'll let you go." She held out her hand, as if she was waiting for Link to pull the Triforce out of his pocket and hand it to her. Instead, she saw a smile appear on his face as he turned towards her.

"I hate to break it to you," Link said sarcastically. He didn't care much for this woman. "But I don't have it." Cia stared at him for a moment, unsure of whether he was joking or not. Link took this silence as a sign to keep talking, and so he began to set his own deal in motion. "I can get the Triforce for you, though. But you have to let me out first." At this, Cia suddenly howled with laughter. Link didn't fully understand what was so funny about his own deal, though he could easily guess she knew what he was thinking.

"You think I'm going to give you up _that _easily?" She said. "You've got something else coming, Link. If you don't have the Triforce, then you're going to stay here for the rest of eternity and do whatever I want. I know how the Triforce Guardian thinks. I used to be that Guardian once, you know."

"I'm sure I've heard the story." Link leaned up against the statue of the Hero of Time. Another idea formed in his head, but unfortunately it was an idea he would rather not use. It would violate his relationship with Zelda, especially since he had just proposed to her. Such actions were unworthy of the Hero, but it was a risk Link would have to take if he wanted to escape Cia. "Look," He said. "I'll do whatever it is you want me to do with you. But afterwards, please let me go. I'll get the Triforce and give its power to you, just to secure my freedom." Cia pondered this for a moment. If she had heard correctly, Link was actually saying he would submit to her desires as long as she let him go and bring her the Triforce. It was a tempting offer, and she would get all she desired. But what if Link was still trying to trick her into letting him go without full payment?

"Sorry, Link." She finally said. "But I'm afraid you're staying here. I'll just find the Triforce myself." She turned away from him and started to disappear, but paused for a moment longer. "Be ready for tonight. It's going to be amazing." Then she vanished before Link could protest. He rested his head against the pedestal on which the Hero of Time's statue stood, sighing. He had failed to persuade her, and now he was going to be stuck with her for the rest of eternity, which meant he would never see the end of the war, he would never marry Zelda, and he would never be able to live a full life. Here, in the Garden of Shadows, time and age had no meaning. His mind told him to just deal with it, but his heart told him there was still hope. Unfortunately, he doubted his heart very much. He didn't quite see much hope in escape, or anything for that matter.

_Well... damn._

* * *

><p>The battle was reported to Zelda as a total success, and that the army was ready to move on to Faron Woods and the Sacred Grove. They were only waiting for Zelda to lead them, but she was too distraught to worry about the war at the moment. Her mind was constantly focused on Link, and no amount of convincing would make her think of anything else. As a result of this, Impa was forced to grant Midna command over the army, as the Twilight Princess happened to be the second-highest ranking official in Hyrule, next to Zelda herself. Midna accepted the role, but she was having her own conflicts on how to go about the use of the Triforce of Power. Having been given such a gift to protect, it became very tempting to use it's power against the enemy. But it was Link's to control, not hers. She was simply its temporary guardian.<p>

Midna granted the army time to reload weapons and ammunition while she visited with Zelda. She was deeply concerned for the Hylian Princess, and she wondered what it was about Link's disappearance that upset her so much. She noticed that Zelda was being very quiet as she held back her tears and fondled a beautiful diamond ring in her hands. She didn't understand the purpose of the ring, and thus curiosity got the better of her.

"Who gave that to you?" She asked. Zelda said nothing for a moment, but finally she replied.

"Link gave it to me." She said, her breathing shaky. "He proposed to me before the battle. We were going to be married, but then he disappeared. I'm afraid for him. I don't even know if he's alive or not."

"Has the Triforce of Wisdom told you anything?" Midna questioned.

"No. It lies dormant, as I'm sure the other pieces do as well." She placed the ring back into the drawer she got it from, then buried her face in her hands and finally allowed the tears to burst out of her eyes. Midna sat down beside her and placed a friendly arm around her, gently whispering for her to calm down.

"It's OK," She said soothingly. "It's alright, everything's going to be fine. I'm sure Link is safe somewhere." Zelda continued to cry, and Midna was running out of calming things to tell her; she wasn't one for repeating herself. Then an idea popped into her head: A song. Midna remembered something Impa had said a while ago about a certain song called Zelda's Lullaby, which was a song the Royal Family had created way before the days of the Hero of Time and had been passed down for generations to each princess in the family. The song was said to have a special melody that could do many things, depending on the situation. Midna figured it was the best song for the job, not to mention it was the only one she knew. In a quiet voice, she began to hum the melody, gently rocking Zelda back and forth as the song went on. The melody seemed to calm the Queen down, and soon she had stopped crying and was now simply listening to the surprisingly beautiful voice that Midna had. She didn't interrupt the Twili, and instead waited for her to finish the song before she finally spoke.

"Thank you for that." She said. "That song always seems to calm me down. Where did you learn it?"

"Impa told me a while ago, sometime just before Christmas." Midna replied. "It's a beautiful song, I'll admit." Zelda nodded in agreement, saying nothing more. The two of them sat in silence, Midna's comforting embrace seeming to further calm Zelda's nerves. Zelda sang the song in her head, the melody seeming to make her forget her troubles. As she, too, finished the song, she stood up straight and inhaled deeply.

"The war must end." She said. "But it will go on, unless we set out to find Link ourselves."

"I'd help you, but Impa wants me to lead the army for a while." Midna explained. "Perhaps she can take my place instead. After all, she is your guardian."

"Perhaps. I'll see if Lana and some others would be willing to join in." Zelda proceeded into her closet, shutting the door most of the way. "I'll speak with Impa about it, Midna. Just keep the army on their feet for now." Midna could hear rustling coming from inside the closet, and she figured Zelda was changing into some other sort of battle attire. She wondered where in the Castle Zelda's servants were, as she had expected them to always be ready to help the Queen with everything, including getting dressed.

"I'll do my best to lead them, Zelda." Midna replied. Zelda stepped out of the closet, wearing a skin-tight blue outfit with a Sheikah symbol printed on the front of a cape that was draped over the front and back of her torso. She had white bands wrapped around her head, and a white scarf that hung loosely around her neck. On her legs and waist were a series of knives, and wrapped around each of her forearms was an all-too-familiar hidden blade, which Link had first introduced to Hyrule a couple of years earlier. Midna looked the Queen up and down several times before nodding her approval.

"Go get 'em, Zelda." She said proudly. "Or should I say, Sheik."


	20. Chapter 19: The Garden of Shadows

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Garden of Shadows_

Link paced frantically around the statue of the Hero of Time, his mind focused on the possible horrors that awaited him. Cia had promised "an amazing night", but in reality she only promised such for herself. Link wanted no part of it, but it seemed that, because he could not escape the Garden, he would eventually be brought down and subdued. But he could not let that happen. He was the Hero of Twilight, the new Triforce Guardian. He was the only one physically capable of carrying the entire Triforce and using its full power. To give in to Cia's lustful desires would be to lose that power. He had to resist, for the Triforce's sake. For Zelda's, even.

As he paced around the statue over and over again, he started to notice an odd carving in the statue's left foot. Link stopped and took a closer look at the carving, noticing that it was a crude picture of an arrow pointed in the direction of the statue of the Young Hero of Time. He walked over to the statue and looked around for more carvings. Quickly he noticed another arrow in the same location on this statue as the first, but this time it pointed behind Link and off to the left a little; at the statue of Oni. Link still couldn't help but admire the magnificence of this version of the fierce deity. His current one had wild, messy hair, like a wolf's mane. This variation had the same length of hair, but it was well kept and tied into a ponytail. On its back was a pair of glorious wings, and in its hands was a large, double-helix blade that was pointing downward. Link noticed that, sketched into the blade was a third arrow, pointing straight down. He looked down at the ground and found a tile loosed from its cement bindings, and knelt down and lifted it out of its place. Underneath it, he found a small, translucent blue stone.

Link wrapped his fingers around the stone, carefully picking it up from its place. It was an extremely odd sort of stone that had somehow started to glow when he touched it. He fondled it with his hands for a moment, curious as to what kind of stone it could be. He didn't wonder for very long before he felt a small gust of wind come from behind him, stopping abruptly as Cia appeared from thin air. Quickly, he pocketed the stone and put the tile back in its place before she could see what he was up to. The sorceress stepped up to him and gently placed her hands on his shoulders, leaning her head into his and whispering into his ear.

"Guess who?" She said. Link jerked his shoulders away and stepped further away from her. She giggled, and then reached down to her waist and unbuckled her skirt, letting it fall to the ground. She continued moving towards him, and he continued to step back. She began to move faster, her hands fiddling with the clip that kept her near-revealing corset together. Link quickly realized she was stripping down, and immediately broke into a run. She chased after him, flinging her loose corset off to the side and letting her breasts fly free. Link never looked back, never stopped running. He was going to stay as far away from her as he could, as long as he could run. Suddenly, Cia appeared in front of him, almost completely nude, save for her pelvic area. She tackled him to the ground and pinned his arms and legs down, then released a set of magical chains that kept him from moving his limbs. He yelled loudly, trying desperately to break free, but the chains were too strong for him. There was no possible way of escape, and even though he knew it wouldn't do much, he screamed.

"Quiet!" Cia ordered, pulling off the last of her clothes. "Nobody is going to hear you anyway. This place is hidden, and no one will ever find it. Now, be a good little Hero and sit still. This is going to be fun!"

"Get the hell off of me, you _bitch_!" Link shouted. Cia frowned, then grabbed his head and smacked it once against the pavement. His vision faded, but he could still feel her merging her privates with his as he lost consciousness. The last thing he heard was victorious laughter and a sensual moan.

* * *

><p>Link awoke in the corner of the Garden, his entire body trembling. Memories of the night previous flooded his mind, memories that his subconscious was able to pick up via the Triforce of Courage. He replayed the entire scene once through his head, and suddenly he felt weak and broken. He tried to resist the urge to scream, and he clutched the sides of his head as the moaning voice of Cia echoed through his mind. The voice went on for what seemed like hours before it finally stopped, and he broke down on the ground and began to cry.<p>

For a long time, he remained in his corner, his eyes spilling tears all over his face. The memories never left his mind, and any attempt to think of something other than those memories was hopeless. He was mentally scarred for life, and there was no way for him to seek closure. He was losing hope in escaping the cursed Garden. Unconsciously, he reached into his pouch and pulled out the blue stone, holding it up to his face. He stared at it for a long time, trying to wrap his head around what the stone could actually be. But the memories of Cia's violent attack on him blocked out his thinking process, and again her moaning voice ran through his head, this time louder than the first. He screamed loudly, shouting for the voice to be silent and the images to disappear, but it was all in vain. He smacked himself in the face several times before he gave up and flopped belly first on to the ground, breathing quite heavily.

_Are these... panic attacks? Not again!_

* * *

><p>"Remind me again, Zelda - er, Sheik - why are we abandoning the soldiers to find Link?" Impa asked. "He can take care of himself." She, Sheik and Lana had long since left the Castle to go on a hunt to find Link, leaving Midna behind to control the forces for the time being. Sheik frowned at her question through her mask, disappointed in her caretaker's sudden attitude towards their mission.<p>

"Link is in grave peril, I can feel it." She said. "He is in some kind of situation that calls for aid from others. We cannot abandon him, especially since he's the most important person in the entire world."

"I agree with Sheik." Lana said. "We need to find him and rescue him at all costs. Then we can rendezvous with the forces on our way back." Impa sighed, briefly burying her face in her hands.

"Its not that I don't want to rescue him," She explained. "I just have a bad feeling about the battles that will ensue in the future. We will not be there to help our forces, and I fear we may actually lose this war."

"Most of the Warriors are still fighting." Lana pointed out. "It's just the Sages and us that are busy with our own dealings."

"What exactly are the Sages doing?" Sheik asked.

"They're trying to keep Ganondorf and his forces from leaving the Arbiter's Grounds. Not an easy task, but they have the power to keep him at bay long enough for us to reach him. As for his friends, they may have already escaped."

"I see." Impa said. She was about to say something else before an odd idea hit her. She looked up at Death Mountain, which they were walking closer and closer to, and a thought came to her mind. "I wonder, what could be behind Death Mountain?"

"Death Mountain?" Lana said, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, no one has ever been to the other side of the volcano, and I feel as though there is something back there that could potentially lead to us finding Link." Impa's eyes scanned the face of the volcano, searching for a reliable, safe path up and around the outside. None seemed to exist. "We'd have to go through the Mines to get back there." She continued. "But if we're careful, we'll make it to the other side, and we'll be able to prove if there is anything behind the volcano."

"It's a wild idea, I'll admit." Lana said. She was contemplating the possibility of there actually being something behind Death Mountain. She turned to Sheik. "What do you think?" She asked her. Sheik looked up at the volcano curiously. She, too, was considering the trek around, but she wasn't too sure if there was actually something behind it.

"What if there's nothing there, Impa?" She asked. Impa turned to her and smiled.

"Do not doubt the senses of a Sage."

* * *

><p>Link was finally able to rest from the series of panic attacks that he had been having that day. Fortunately for him, Cia had been off fighting a war, leaving him alone inside the Garden of Shadows. He tried his best not to think of the horrid actions Cia had done, and instead focused his mind on the curious blue stone. It felt like some kind of dark instrument, or at least a piece of one. But it did nothing to hurt him, and so he considered it a stone for good, instead of evil.<p>

He traced his steps back to the loosed tile where underneath he had first found the stone. He lifted the tile out of its place and looked through the empty space for anything else that could possibly be there. He saw nothing, and proceeded to place the tile back when he noticed a carving on its side. He took a closer look at the carving and found that it was a sentence written in Ancient Hylian. Curious, he looked down at the blue stone in his hands and put it up against the sentence on the tile, as if magically the sentence would translate itself. Surprisingly, it did. Link raised an eyebrow, then moved the stone across the sentence, saying each word aloud as it was translated.

_"The Gossip Stone can see the unseen and hear the unheard."_ He recited. He put the stone up to his eye and looked around, noticing that the Garden itself was nothing but an illusion. Instead of a peaceful, beautiful sanctuary dedicated to the Hero's Spirit, it was a fiery fortress with iron doors at its entrance. The doors were locked tight and sealed with the magic of the illusion, preventing Link from being able to even touch the lock itself. Above him, there was no ceiling, and when he looked up, he saw the one mountain in all of Hyrule that he recognized anywhere.

_Death Mountain. I'm in a sealed fortress behind Death Mountain._

Suddenly, hope filled his lungs again, and he nearly leapt for joy at the realization that there was indeed a way to escape. He just needed to find out how to get to it.

_The Master Sword would no doubt break the seal. But Cia never shared with me where she put it._

Putting the stone back up to his eye again, he searched the area for any sign of the Master Sword. He checked all of the statues, hoping that maybe one of them would be concealing the blade. At last, he found it in the hands of the statue of the Hero of Time, its true identity concealed from view by the seal, which caused it to appear as a stone copy. He smiled, pocketing the Gossip Stone, and began climbing up the statue to get to the sword. He didn't get very far before he felt something club the side of his head, knocking him to the ground. He lost sight of nearly everything around him, save for the familiar, cursed silhouette of Cia as she gazed over him.

"I'm back." She said in a singsong voice. "Time for another round."


	21. Chapter 20: Battles of Faron, Part One

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER TWENTY: Battles of Faron, Part I_

Faron was eerily quiet as the Hylian Forces - led by Midna and the other Hyrule Warriors - finally entered its borders. Those who lived in the nearby village had their doors locked and windows shut, rousing suspicion in many of the soldiers' minds. Midna ordered them to spread out and establish temporary outposts, whilst she and the Hyrule Warriors set out to secure more vital areas to be used as keeps. There were still no signs of monsters anywhere, but the increasing possibility of a surprise attack loomed over the Hylians' heads.

As Midna went to establish a keep near the path to the Forest Temple, she thought she could hear a hideous cackling coming from below her. She looked in the direction of the Sacred Grove, but there was nothing down there except for the trees and the odd ledges jutting out from their trunks. Thinking it as nothing, she began conjuring a perimeter around the area of the keep she was creating. Again came the ugly laughter, this time much closer to her and seeming to come from above her. She looked up and saw nothing. Now she was on edge. There was no mistaking the laughter as false, someone was in the woods with her, and it was no ally. She quickly finished creating the perimeter and conjured a Twilit sword - similar to Zant's - and held it up like a shield as she began a search of the area.

The cackling came a third time, this time from behind Midna. She frantically turned around and swung out, just barely missing Wizzro as he appeared before her. He looked at her with his big, ugly eye, grinning from behind his robes.

"Oooh," He taunted. "Somebody's quick! Few more inches, and you'd have cut me open and killed me!" He laughed again, spinning around her and flailing his scrawny arms like a deranged lunatic. Midna watched him dance around her for a few seconds before she punched him square in the eye, sending him staggering backwards. He rubbed his eye and frowned, then looked at Midna angrily. "You'll pay for that!" He screamed. He snapped his bony fingers, and almost immediately Midna could hear the clashing of swords coming from the rest of the Faron Woods. She swung out at the sorcerer with her own sword, smacking him to the side with its flat edge. He quickly recovered and lashed out at her with long, purple claws, scratching the metal of her blade as she put it up to protect herself. Growling, he moved back and conjured a large ball of shadows, then threw it at her. She swung her sword out, deflecting the ball back at Wizzro. The strike caught him off guard, and he was forced to dodge the ball before it could hit him.

"You're no match for me, _sorcerer_," Midna spat. "I am the Twilight Princess, and you will either bow down or let me kill you." Wizzro shrieked with laughter, flipping through the air and clutching his stomach.

"Haha, you're hilarious!" He said, giggling with delight. His cloaked face then changed back into a serious expression. "But no matter. Royalty or not, you're still subject to _fear._" He reached out with his gangly arms and grabbed Midna's face, immediately cloaking her in darkness. Then, all around her, horrifying visions appeared, each one different from the other. Midna could see the destruction of her palace in the Twilight Realm and the fall of Hyrule under the power of what was undoubtedly Ganondorf. Between these visions, she saw the deaths of each one of her friends and fellow Warriors, as well as her own. These visions and more horrified her almost to the point of insanity, but something in her mind reminded her that these were visions of evil, and that none of them were true. Crying out in anger, she swung her blade outward, the sharp end cutting a shallow gorge into Wizzro's stomach. He flew backwards, screaming in agony and clutching his wound. Midna stood up and raised her right hand in the air, the Triforce of Power glowing brightly until a Triforce Cage snared the sorcerer and prevented him from moving or performing any kind of magic. "W-What is this trickery?" He cried. "Since when did you get the _Triforce_?!"

"I won't need to tell you." Midna said. "Because you'll be dead before then." She lunged forward and swung her sword out in all directions, cutting Wizzro over and over again until she finally sliced the Triforce Cage open and sent the sorcerer flying backward into a tree. Midna inhaled deeply, calming herself down and looking down at the Triforce on her hand. She shuddered at the realization of having just used its power, hoping that its use wouldn't alert any other beings like Wizzro, especially Cia and Ganondorf. She didn't even know how she was able to do it, it just came to her, and she was able to trap the sorcerer and cut him down. She looked up, expecting Wizzro's body to still be there, but instead all she saw was a blue ring on the ground. She clenched her teeth in anger, knowing that Wizzro somehow survived the Triforce Cage, otherwise he would not have disappeared. She knelt down and picked up the blue ring, feeling its dark energy flowing inside of it.

_So this is what Wizzro uses for his power. Interesting._

She looked over at the gorge between her and the entrance to the Sacred Grove, contemplating whether or not to keep the ring. She ultimately decided to get rid of it, and with a mighty swing of her arm, she chucked it out into the abyss, watching it disappear beneath the natural fog below. Suddenly the clashing of swords caught her attention, and she realized she was still in the midst of a battle. She clutched her sword tightly and raced back into the trees.

* * *

><p>Waves upon waves of monsters flowed in from behind the trees, crying loud battle cries as they charged the Hylian forces. The Hyrule Warriors were spread thin, each one occupied with defending his or her own keep. Several times guards called for help, but through the noise, no one could hear them. For once, the battle was not going nearly as well as they had all hoped.<p>

Groose, Cawlin and Strich seemed to be the only Warriors who were actually enjoying themselves in the midst of battle. They led the massive Alkorium tanks through the woods, blowing holes in the trees and craters in the ground. Wherever they looked, they fired, and it was usually in the center of a large cluster of monsters. Occasionally, the tanks were slowed by the oncoming enemy forces, but they were able to easily barge through them, trampling dozens of monsters with their size and weight. It seemed that Groose and his armada of weapons were unstoppable.

As the trio led the tanks through the woods, they were met with three massive Moblins, each roughly twelve or thirteen feet tall. The moblins were unarmed, but their fists were powerful enough to smack through Hylian soldiers without so much as a flinch. The Moblins seemed to ignore the tanks for now, and Groose had the idea to slip past them and move on with his rampage. But, as he thought about it, these Moblins were a serious problem, and there was no way they could defend the forest with the giant monsters roaming around. He called for about a half dozen tanks to aim at the Moblins, two tanks to each monster. As the Gorons turned the tanks to face the Moblins, the soldiers at each tank loaded a cannonball into the cannon and lit the fuse, then covered their ears. The tanks fired the cannonballs outward, each one hitting its target. The first two Moblins were killed instantly, but the third was fatally wounded and had a short time left to live. It turned in the direction of the tanks and charged, roaring a mighty roar that shook even the monsters fighting with it. Groose's face went pale, and in a hurry he ordered the tanks to turn and retreat. There was no need, as the Moblin dropped dead a few seconds later, just feet away from the tanks. Sighing with relief, Groose ordered the tanks to keep moving forward.

Ahead of the tanks, Midna produced wave after wave of Twilit magic, wiping out dozens of monsters that were constantly surrounding her. She couldn't seem to get rid of all of them, as they just kept coming from the keeps and outposts that had been set up. Several of those keeps and outposts had been overrun. Angry and irritated, Midna summoned her Fused Shadows and transformed herself into the Twilit beast that many of the soldiers in the army had previously seen in the Desert. Many of the monsters thought she was one of them, and so they cheered as she began a serious rampage throughout the forest. After seconds, the monsters realized this beast was actually against them, and was smacking them aside with its seven long, powerful arms. The monsters quickly lost their morale, and most of them tried to flee from the forest before they could be killed. But their efforts were in vain, as the only way out of the forest was blocked by Groose's armada of tanks. Trapped, the monsters quickly decided to flee further into the forest, past Midna's keep and down into the Sacred Grove. The soldiers cheered as Midna finished her attack and transformed back into her former self. She raised her arms in triumph, but was too weak from the transformation to keep them up for very long. She sat down on the ground to regain her energy, breathing heavily. Telma and her trio of friends approached her, big smiles on their faces.

"You certainly showed them, Midna." Shad exclaimed.

"It's not... quite over yet." Midna replied, still out of breath. "We've still got to take back the Sacred Grove... before we've made any serious progress."

"Where are we headed after the Faron Province?" Rusl asked.

"There's only one legion of monsters in Eldin Province, just outside Kakariko City." Ashei said. "Once we claim that territory, we can either wait for the Queen and her friends to return with Link, or we can move on to Lanayru Province and have them catch up to us. Which they probably will, since we'll probably be occupied with Zora's Domain by the time they find us."

"How do you know they're in Eldin?" Shad asked.

"Zelda said she was going to look around Death Mountain first." Midna explained. "She said she wanted to see what was behind it. We'll likely meet up with or pass them there while on our conquest."

"Right." Telma said. "Well, let's keep moving. The Sacred Grove isn't going anywhere, and neither are those monsters. We'll corner them and finish them off, and then we can get out of here and move on." The others nodded in agreement. Ashei helped Midna onto her feet, then put a supportive arm around her to help her walk and regain the rest of her energy. Midna called for the forces to follow, and as one army they marched down into the Sacred Grove, where the rest of the monsters in the area were nervously waiting for them.

"By the way," Ashei said to Midna as they walked. "I'd refrain from using that Twilit beast form if I were you. It's about as dangerous as my sword, and it's best to do what I do and save it for when you really need it." Midna nodded.

"Good idea." She said.


	22. Chapter 21: Battles of Faron, Part Two

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Battles of Faron, Part Two_

To the Warriors' great surprise, every one of the monsters that were originally stationed in the Sacred Grove - as well as those who fled into it - were dead. Their bodies were sprawled all over the forest, some floating in the water. There was no blood. No wounds were found on any of the bodies. The monsters were all simply dead. To make matters worse, there were spiderwebs all over the trees, the strands as thick as a birch tree. Few soldiers knew what the webs came from, but it was Shad and Telma who spoke its name.

"Grantula." They said together.

"Hey!" A soldier shouted. "Over here! It's unbelievable!" The Warriors ran over to the soldier and looked in the direction he was pointing. At the far end of the Sacred Grove, in a heap in front of the Master Sword's chamber, lay a dead Grantula. Its head was split in two, and its long, hairy legs were sprawled all across the forest floor. Shad ran up to the spider immediately, almost squealing with glee as he stood before the great beast before him. He was so happy to finally get up close to the rare creature that he didn't think of what sex it was when he sliced open its abdomen. Almost immediately, hundreds of huge baby spiders the size of punch bowls spilled out onto the ground, scattering to find shelter. Most of the soldiers braced for a quick battle with the spiders, whereas others cowered before them. Midna put up a hand to stop them from attacking, and curiously watched as all of the spiders disappeared into the woods.

"Whatever killed this Grantula queen must have done so very recently." Shad said. "I'm not sure they would have survived, had I not let them out of their mother's womb."

"You mean they're gonna grow into _that?!_" One of the soldiers exclaimed. Shad shook his head.

"No, no. Fortunately, a Grantula - as I have named this beast - is a rare stage in the growth of Skulltula. Very few still exist, and the odds of one being born is a thousand to one. We need not fear of seeing another anytime soon." He turned to the beast and stroked its hairs. "Shame. She must have been a magnificent queen. Who could have killed her?"

"Let's not worry about that now." Midna said, stepping up to the creature. "This thing is blocking the entrance to the Master Sword's chamber. If there's anything in there, we need to remove the body so we can get to it." She raised her hand in the air, the Triforce of Power illuminating what dark parts of the forest there were. A beam of light shot out from it, colliding with the Grantula's body, and causing it to slowly disappear. "Ready your weapons!" Midna shouted as she struggled to maintain her strength. The massive amounts of power that radiated from her Triforce sent off ripples of energy in all directions. Midna held her hand firm with her other hand so as to keep her strength intact. She pushed herself forward, driving the beam of light through the beast and finally forcing it to disappear completely. But she didn't stop moving. She ran right into the Master Sword's chamber, expecting to cut down a new horde of monster reinforcements. Instead, she stumbled upon a tall, slender man in a form-fitting - and somewhat revealing - outfit, with a red cloak to cover his shoulders and torso. Part of his hair was draped over his left eye. In his hands, he held a certain pair of objects that belonged to Link.

The Master Sword, encased in its scabbard, and the Hylian shield.

"Well, well, well," The man said. "What a surprise. I drop a dead spider in front of the entrance to this chamber, and yet here I am, completely surrounded, holding weapons that I can't even wield." He chuckled. "How amusing."

"Ghirahim!" Groose shouted from his tank. "You ugly turd! You're supposed to be dead!" Ghirahim turned his head to Groose, his hair floating in the air and settling back down over his face.

"Hm." Ghirahim said. "You seem to have forgotten my title: _Lord _Ghirahim. But I'm not picky, so I'll let it slide." He threw Link's weapons onto the ground and walked away from them. "You can have those. I have no use for them." Midna stepped forward and picked up the weapons, examining their many scars from Link's use. They reminded her of him, and although she knew she couldn't have him, she still felt a strange sense of affection towards him. She quickly remembered where she was, and hid the weapons away in her shadow.

"I won't ask where you got those," Midna said defiantly. "But whoever you are, Ghirahim, you're going to wish you'd never been resurrected." She summoned her own sword and pointed it at him, her eyes filled with the readiness to kill the man.

"Bahahahaha!" Ghirahim laughed. "I quiver in fear of your little army! But you won't win today, or ever. Night is falling, and everyone knows that the forest is a dangerous place at night." He summoned his own blade, a black rapier with a red jewel at its guard. He pointed it at Midna, smiling mischievously. "Let's see how long you last."

Midna turned to her forces and ordered them to leave the forest. Reluctantly, they did so, and when they left the chamber, she turned back to Ghirahim. "Let's get this over with." With a quick battle cry, she lunged forward and brought her blade down on Ghirahim, its sharp edge colliding with the demon's own blade. He pushed Midna's sword off to the side and swung out, missing Midna by mere inches as she backflipped out of the way. She had little time to recover before she was met with another blow, which knocked her down onto her back. Ghirahim lifted his sword up into the air and jumped, bringing the blade down as he descended. Midna kicked up with her leg and smacked him off to the side, then quickly stood up and attacked before he could recover. She could have killed him then and there, but she had swung her sword too hurriedly, and the flat edge caught him in the stomach and sent him flying into a wall.

As he recovered from the attack, he removed his long white gloves, revealing a pair of arms as black as night. He admired his arms, gloating about how beautiful he thought they were. Midna watched his little monologue, rolling her eyes or groaning with every description he made.

"Are you quite satisfied yet?" She snapped. Ghirahim shot her a nasty look.

"It seems that having it all doesn't exactly impress you, despite your status as a princess." He said crossly. "But I do lack some things." He snapped his fingers, and instead of one rapier, he now held two. "Namely, mercy."

* * *

><p>Impa, Lana, and Sheik were forced to stay in Kakariko City for the night, as climbing Death Mountain was something no one could ever do in the dark. Both Lana and Impa were tired from the trek out from the Castle, but Sheik was restless. She worried constantly about Link, especially since he was in Cia's grasp. What horrors could the sorceress do to him. What had she already done to him? Sheik feared Cia's lusts would get the better of her, and terrible, intolerable acts would be committed. She didn't even want to think of the possibilities.<p>

Impa had been watching her pace their room in Elde Inn for some time now. She had chosen to wait until Sheik had gone to sleep before she herself did, but she was getting increasingly tired of watching and waiting.

"Sheik, please, lay down and rest." She finally said. "Your pacing is worrying me."

"I can't, Impa." Sheik replied. "I'm afraid for Link. He split the Triforce to protect it, and now he's almost powerless to Cia. I can't stop thinking about what could happen to him."

"I worry for him too, Sheik," Impa stood and grabbed hold of Sheik's shoulders, looking deep into her eyes. "But if you want to save him from Cia, you're going to need your strength. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow, and climbing that mountain will take up the majority of the day." Sheik broke her gaze, frowning. She sat down on her bed and buried her face in her hands. Tears dripped from her eyes.

"I just... I can't live without him." She said, her voice shaking. "I need him." Impa looked at her face, then sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulder.

"This weakness will only hurt you more." She said. "Don't let worry get the better of you. This weeping, broken-hearted girl is not the queen I raised you to be. Now... What's that?" She looked down at Sheik's left ring finger, noticing a diamond ring on it. She took Sheik's hand and pulled the ring off, looking at it curiously. "Who gave this to you?"

"Link did, the day he was kidnapped." Sheik replied. Impa's eyes widened, and she glared at Sheik furiously.

"You mean to tell me he proposed to you?" She asked. Sheik nodded. "Do you have _any _idea what will happen to Link's bloodline if you marry him?"

"Impa, what are you talking about?"

"If you marry him, your bloodlines will be fused together, which will be a huge mistake on both your parts." Impa explained. "The Hero's Spirit will no longer enter the newborn bodies of his descendants. It will disappear from the earth altogether, and when evil rises to destroy Hyrule, there will be no Hero." Sheik looked up at Impa, her eyes filled with fear as the Sheikah continued. "If you marry him, it will mean the end of light as we know it."

* * *

><p>Midna staggered back, having blocked a barrage of attacks from Ghirahim's blades. The two of them had been battling for what felt like nearly ten minutes, and Ghirahim was just getting warmed up. Midna, however, was getting tired. She couldn't risk using her Twilit Beast form or the Triforce of Power to finish him off quickly, and any other magic she used barely affected him. She knew she was losing this fight.<p>

"Come on," Ghirahim taunted. "Is that it? I was hoping for more of a challenge from you, Twilight Princess." Midna glared at him, her eyes full of malice. On the inside, she felt as though she could destroy anything. But on the outside, she was so weak from battle, she could hardly keep herself standing. She eventually lost enough of her strength to drop her sword and fall backwards, landing on her back. Ghirahim sighed and walked up to her, shaking his head and sighing. "Oh, how unfortunate. The Twilight Princess has exhausted herself. Perhaps you shouldn't use so much of your power in one battle." He raised one of his swords into the air and swung down, the blade quickly going for Midna's neck. In a last effort to save herself, she disappeared into the nearby Twilit Portal, leaving behind what appeared to be a small shard of Twilight. Ghirahim knew exactly what one shard of Twilight could do to someone, and by the time he realized it was even there, his blade collided with it, creating an explosion that knocked him backwards into a wall. He groaned in pain as he recovered from the initial shock of the blast, then snapped his fingers and disappeared.

* * *

><p>Midna reappeared outside the forest, in the middle of a group of Hylian soldiers. She breathed heavily, clutching her chest as she gasped for air. She coughed a bit as well. Soon she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, her hearing disappearing and her vision fading.<p>

_At least we captured Faron. But this war is exhausting every ounce of strength I have. _


	23. Chapter 22: Cia's Last Resort

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Cia's Last Resort_

When Midna awoke, she found herself lying in a tent outside Faron Woods. It was strangely quiet, even at nighttime. She didn't hear any of the soldiers outside. She looked around the interior of the tent, her eyes slowly getting used to the darkness. When she could finally see, the first thing she noticed was a slender, scantily-clad woman wearing a crow's mask. Immediately recognizing this woman as Cia, she tried to scream out, but the sorceress placed a hand over her mouth and held her head down, then grabbed her right wrist and held it up in the air. A dark spiral of magic circled Midna's arm, draining what little strength she had in it already. Midna struggled to break free of Cia's grip, but she was helpless, and could only watch as the Triforce of Power was extracted from her hand.

"Why, thank you, Midna." Cia said. "Now, I'm just going to make sure you don't get in the way again." She let go of Midna's wrist and placed a hand on her chest. Immediately Midna's body began to shrink and transform, and in a matter of seconds, she was no longer as tall and elegant as she used to be. She was, once again, an imp. Cia chuckled. "Perfect. You can stay like that." Her task complete, she disappeared from the tent, leaving Midna weak and breathless.

* * *

><p>Noon came as an agonizing surprise for Link. He awoke inside a tall, rusty cage, with the sun beating down on his eyes and a serious pain in his bowels. He hadn't been able to relieve himself for days. He sat up and looked around, leaning his head back against the cage bars. A sharp pain in the back of his head forced him to lean forward, clenching his teeth.<p>

_That witch really hit me hard. If only I'd figured out the Gossip Stone faster, I might have been able to retrieve the Master Sword._

Remembering the Stone, he reached into his pouch and pulled it out, putting it to his eye and looking up at the sword of the Hero of Time's statue. The Master Sword still rested in the statue's hands, but it was on the other side of the Garden, and he was in a cage. He put the Stone back in his pouch and weakly stood up, grabbing on to the cage bars for support. He took hold of two bars parallel to each other and tried pushing them to either side, using up as much strength as he could muster. But, no matter how hard he tried, the bars would not budge. Link stepped back, utterly bewildered.

_This cage is old and rusty. How is it so difficult to break the bars?_

He looked around all four sides of the cage, searching for the door, but he saw nothing but barred walls. Then a ray of light coming from the top of the cage caught his attention, and he looked up to see a hole just large enough to squeeze through. He figured the cage must have been for smaller captives, such as children, so as to taunt them with freedom without actually giving it to them. Link hoped no children had had to suffer in this cage as he jumped up and grabbed onto the side of the hole. He pulled himself up through the hole with little difficulty, then looked around him. Cia didn't appear to be in the Garden at the moment, and he found his head was just a few inches below the walls of the Garden. The cage was about four feet away from the nearest wall. He could actually leap off the cage and pull himself up and over the wall, slipping through the illusional barrier that covered the top of the Garden. But he still needed his weapons back, and he contemplated either jumping over the wall to freedom and leaving behind the Blade of Evil's Bane, or getting down from the cage to get the blade, then risk being unable to get back up. The cage was floating eight feet above the ground, making the walls nearly fifteen feet high. His dual clawshots wouldn't be any good, and there were no spinner tracks around.

After a short time of pondering, Link finally decided it was best to defend himself against Cia, rather than run like a coward. He took a deep breath and jumped off the cage, landing on the stone floor of the garden and rolling to avoid hurting himself. He didn't stop moving after that. Once he had pushed himself back onto his feet, he kept running as fast as he could towards the statue of the Hero of Time. He jumped onto its pedestal once he had gotten close enough to it, grabbed the statue's waist and began to climb up. He planted his feet on the statue's thigh and reached out for the Master Sword, his fingers eager to pull it out from the illusion it was trapped behind. But his fingers touched nothing at all. Confused, he grabbed for the sword again, and still he touched nothing. He reached farther up and went for the blade, but his hand only went through it. Horrified, he reached to the other side of the statue, hoping the Hylian Shield would at least be there. But, like the sword, there was nothing.

_What is this dark magic?_

"Ah, so you've managed to escape the cage." A familiar voice said behind him. He looked around his shoulder to face Cia, who was proudly holding a piece of the Triforce in her hands. Link stared in utter horror at it, wondering whose it was she had claimed. He looked down at his own hand, finding that he still bore Triforce of Courage. Cia realized he was wondering about the Triforce, and so she answered his question before he could ask. "This was in the possession of an old friend of yours. Someone I'm sure you're more close to than the Queen." She smirked from behind her mask as Link's eyes widened in realization that the piece she held was the Triforce of Power. A sudden wave of anger soon overcame him, and he lunged from the statue, screaming wildly and tackling Cia to the ground, knocking her mask off. His hands immediately went to her throat, and he could feel himself ready to call upon Power and Wisdom to join with Courage and release Oni. He pushed hard on her neck, causing her to choke and grab his hands in an attempt for air. She watched as the Triforce of Power entered into his body, the mark on his hand resonating powerfully. Fear overcame her, and she looked into Link's eyes pleadingly, as if begging to spare her life. But the Hero seemed oblivious to her desperation.

"Just one more piece," He said. "And then I'll crush you." The Triforce glowed brightly on his hand, resonating so powerfully now. Link knew the Triforce of Wisdom would soon answer the call, but he wasn't quite ready to receive it yet; he was too taken by his sudden lust for revenge. Then it dawned on him: Lust was the very reason Cia lost the role of the Triforce Guardian. While it was a much different lust, it was a lust nonetheless. Realizing this, he let go of Cia's neck, allowing her to receive the vital air that she needed. He sat back and looked at his hand, the mark of the Triforce fading to its normal light. Wisdom had not come, however. Had he called it sooner, it would have changed his judgement on how to go about punishing Cia for stealing the Triforce and possibly hurting Midna in the process. Yet Power and Courage, when united without Wisdom, seemed to cloud his judgement. He made a silent prayer to the goddesses to forgive him of his foolishness.

As he looked down at Cia, he noticed a change in her expression. Instead of her usual lustful, seductive look, she seemed utterly afraid of him. Her fear reminded him of Volga, and how even he, despite his power to transform into a mighty dragon, cowered before the power of Oni. Link suddenly felt sorry for her, and he reached down and pulled her up into a sitting position. She looked away from him, tears flowing down her cheeks as she whimpered in fright. In his mind, Link felt he should be harsh with her and force her into letting him go. But his heart seemed to tell him that she had been punished enough by the darkness in her soul, and that only compassion and forgiveness should be shown. Despite her successes in molesting him, Link felt his heart was telling him the right thing to do. Gently, he wiped a tear from her cheek and pulled a loose strand of hair out of her face. He took hold of her chin and turned her head to him, looking into her fearful eyes. For a moment, she looked at him as though he was going to kill her a different way, such as stabbing her with an unseen knife. But instead he wrapped his arms around her and embraced her, whispering into her ear.

"I know you're better than this, Cia." He said. "You are not an evil person. This darkness inside of you is just something corrupting your heart." He pulled out of the embrace and again looked into her eyes. "Let it go."

"I... I..." Cia stuttered. "I can't do it. I just can't. Not after all of the things I've done." She hugged him again, burying her face in his chest. "But if you stay with me, I'll try again."

"You know I can't do that." Link explained. "I'm bound to Zelda. To back down on my promises to her would be the last thing I want to do in this world. Please, Cia, understand this." Infuriated, Cia pushed away from him and stood up on her feet, staring down at him defiantly.

"No." She said. "I won't accept anything less than your love. If you will not commit to me, then I will continue to force you into doing so." She produced a long, black scepter out of nothing and raised it in the air, and was about to swing it down on him when she heard a faint hissing sound. Her scepter hovered in midair, her attention suddenly turned to the hissing. Link heard it too, and he stood and approached the wall closest to the sound. Cia didn't bother to stop him. He put his ear up to the wall and listened closely, trying to make out what the sound was coming from. But he couldn't interpret it, which frustrated him.

"Run." A voice said to his right. He turned his head, his eyes catching sight of a ghost. Or, rather, an old friend.

"Auru?" Link said, bewildered by the old man's sudden presence. "What are you-"

"_Run._" Auru's spirit demanded. Link did as he was told and ran away from the wall, stopping only when it suddenly exploded. He turned back around and looked at what was left of the wall, only to look up as the mystical spell cast over the Garden was lifted. Around him, only three of the statues in the Garden still remained: The Hero of the Sky, the Hero of Time, and himself in his human form. The rest had merely been an illusion.

"What is this?!" Cia shrieked. "Who found this place?" She swung her scepter forward and sent off a blast of dark magic into the settling dust, hoping it would hit its mark. Instead, she saw a brief flash of light, and then a magical barrier rushing at her. Behind that barrier were three women, two of which Link was more than happy to see. He rushed towards them, arms spread wide open. The first to meet his embrace was Lana, who was more than happy just to see him alive. He made a quick, but excited handshake with Impa, who praised him for staying alive during his brief capture. The third woman, whom Link saw only as a Sheikah that Impa had picked up somewhere, suddenly wrapped her arms around him, tears dripping from her eyes.

"Um..." Link said, looking to Impa. "Who is this?" The young Sheikah girl stepped back and pulled down the white mask covering her face, smiling as she did so. Link's eyes lit up with joy when he recognized who it was. "Zelda!" He exclaimed, pulling her back into an embrace and kissing her passionately on the lips. Zelda kissed him back, albeit rather hesitantly. But Link didn't seem to notice. Cia, however, watched them with a disgusted and disappointed look on her face.

"Well," She said. "This has been a most pleasant reunion, but I'm afraid it's time for our guests to leave. Link, would you kindly show them the way out?" She winked at him as he turned to her. He stepped away from Zelda for a moment and turned his whole body towards her, as if to challenge her.

"Of course, Cia." He said. "Ladies first." He turned back to lead his rescuers out of the room, but none of them were willing to leave. Instead, they walked past him, drawing weapons and preparing for a fight. Link stepped up next to Zelda as they all approached the dark sorceress.

"We're not leaving until you've faced your judgement." Impa said defiantly. Link looked at her, a little confused as to why they weren't leaving just yet. He was quite eager to leave Cia's presence.

"Is that so?" Cia asked. "Well, then I'm afraid I'll have to call the guard to escort you out." She snapped her fingers, and suddenly Link was thrown towards her, landing on his back at her feet. The others moved to attack, but Cia waved her hand in front of her, creating a magical barrier that seemed to glue their feet to the ground. They watched in horror as Link was forced onto his feet, and chains were wrapped around his wrists and ankles. Cia placed a hand over his heart, letting a purplish-black shadow crawl over his body. The Triforce mark on his hand began to glow brightly, and soon the Triforce of Wisdom was wrenched from Zelda's possession and forced into Link's. Immediately, the shadow caused him to transform into Oni, changing his eyes from their feral blue to a pure white, and then to a blood red. Oni roared his mighty wolf's roar, and the building around them shook until it completely fell apart, leaving only piles of rubble where tall brick walls once stood. Dust filled the area, leaving Impa, Zelda, and Lana coughing and waving their arms around in an attempt to get rid of it. When it finally settled, they were met with a horrible sight. In Link's place was Oni, but this was not the Oni any of them recognized. This deity had red eyes, black skin, and the red and blue markings on his face were now a pale white. His tunic was black, with silver armor covering the majority of it. His hair was at around the same length as Link's, but it was silver and messy. In his hands, he held a long dual-helix sword with a chrome silver blade, but its edges glowed a bright blue and green. He was, in a sense, a dark Oni.

"Say goodbye to your Triforce Guardian." Cia said. "Because now he's mine, as is his power. Oni, dispose of these intruders!"

"Yes, my master." Oni said in a low, growling voice. He raised his massive sword in the air and swung down, its edge meeting that of Impa's giant blade.

"Lana, Zelda, get out of here!" She ordered. The two girls obeyed, and Lana cast a magic spell that dispelled the barrier around their feet so they could escape. Impa pushed Oni's blade up into the air with her own and backflipped out of the way, following closely behind Lana and Zelda. Oni started after them, but Cia placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Let them go." She said. Oni relaxed his blade and turned to her dutifully. "I have another mission for you. I need you to find and take over any land that has been claimed by Ganondorf's forces. If the Hylians get in your way, dispose of them."

"So we are enemies with both the Hylians and Ganondorf's forces?" Oni asked. Cia nodded. "Then I will not fail you, my master."

"Let us hope you don't." Cia said. She watched as her new puppet left the ruins of what was her hidden fortress behind Death Mountain, then smiled and chuckled quietly to herself.

_Finally, I have what I want, and I know exactly how to use it._

* * *

><p>From his home in Ordon Village, Bo could sense that something wasn't right with the world. He had heard news from Fado and Jaggle of the war going on outside, but there was something suddenly darker about it that he didn't like. It was as if Hyrule was about to enter an age of darkness, from which it may never return. Bo feared for not only his village, but for the entire country as well. He wasn't going to sit around and do nothing about it anymore. It was time to act.<p>

He stood up from the center of the wrestling arena in his home and looked squarely at the door. He cracked his knuckles, neck, and shoulders, shaking off a cloak that covered his body. Anyone who knew him now as an old, fat mayor with a drinking problem would not recognize the tall, muscular, man that now took his place. He had redistributed all of his weight into muscle, bringing back a physique he had not had since his younger days when wrestling with Gorons. He ran towards the door at full sprint, breaking through it without so much as a second thought. He dashed past Sera, who was just now bringing up a lunch to his home. She watched him in utter surprise as he raced up the path to Link's old home. She wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not, but when she looked over at an equally surprised Uli from across the river, she knew that what she had seen was indeed the old mayor.

Bo dashed through the trees of the Faron Woods, making a beeline for the Southern Hyrule Fields. All around him were the dead bodies of monsters and Hylian soldiers alike, but he ran past them without looking back. He had never ran so hard in his life, and when he finally exited the forest onto the vast fields, he felt more alive than he had been in several long years. His first thought was to head to the Eldin Province, where he felt he would rally the Gorons and attack the monster invaders by sheer force. But a Hylian campsite caught his eye just a few hundred feet away, and so he turned and made a beeline for it, unaware that some of the people there would find his sudden appearance quite shocking.

_I don't care how surprised they are. They need my help, and I'm going to give it to them!_


	24. Chapter 23: Gateway to the Past

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Gateway to the Past_

The climb up and over Death Mountain took the majority of the day for Lana, Zelda, and Impa, and it was near dusk when they finally met up with the Hylian forces just outside Faron Woods. Almost immediately, Impa disappeared into the camp, saying she was going off to find General Uriah and demand he explain why they hadn't moved on yet. Lana volunteered to accompany Zelda throughout the camp to the leader's tent - an action Zelda was severely grateful for. She had been so distraught during the day after witnessing Cia transform Link into her weaponized puppet that she was glad to have a little bit of comfort from all the fighting.

As they approached the leader's tent, Zelda began to notice that something was wrong. Midna had not shown herself at all since they had arrived at the campsite. Zelda began to wonder if the Twilight Princess was alright, and she put her hopes up quite high as they entered the leader's tent. No one was inside, save a crying imp girl with bright orange hair and a Fused Shadow atop her head. She immediately ducked into the shadows, hoping no one had seen her.

"Midna?" Zelda called, looking at the spot where the imp once sat. Both she and Lana knelt down so they could meet at eye level with her. "Midna, it's just me." Midna poked her head out from the shadows, sighing with relief at the sight of the Queen. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright." Zelda said.

"Me?" Midna asked, wiping her visible eye. The other one was concealed behind the Fused Shadow. "I'm more concerned about you. Did you find Link?" Zelda looked away, holding back her own tears. Lana sighed and answered for her.

"Yes," She said. "And no. We found him in a small fort behind Death Mountain, but by the time we had reached him, Cia transformed him into Oni and then possessed him. Now he's gone off somewhere, possibly to find us or Ganondorf." Midna bowed her head in silence for a moment, then quickly looked back up at the two of them.

"Well, he's not going to get very far." She said confidently. "Not while he's possessed by that _witch._ I want to go find him."

"You can't go alone, not in that state." Zelda said. "Perhaps we could-" Below her, the earth began to shake, first lightly, then gradually increasing until it became so violent that tents began falling to the ground. Zelda and Lana stepped outside to check on the camp, Midna hiding herself in Zelda's shadow as they entered the light of the setting sun. "What's going on?" Zelda asked a passing soldier, who immediately stood at attention and saluted.

"We're not sure, Your Majesty." The soldier said. "One of the men spotted a tall, dark person with a huge sword near the Southern Entrance to Hyrule Castle, and that's when the quakes started." Zelda's eyes widened upon hearing the soldier describe the person responsible. Before anyone could say anything, she ran off to the North, running as fast as she could to the Southern Gate. Lana ran after her, and soon she was followed by Impa, who had seen Zelda in her hurry whilst scolding Uriah for not picking up and moving on. The wind blew madly through Zelda's hair as she tore off the white bands that covered her head and face, running so fast that she was practically hovering above the ground. Behind her, she could hear Lana and Impa shouting for her to slow down, and even Midna was telling her from within her shadow to save her energy, but she ignored all of them. She wanted Oni - no, Link - returned to normal, and she didn't care if it meant her death. Link was _not _going to be Cia's puppet.

At last, she saw him, his hands raised high into the air. From them, three shadowy spheres appeared, each one expanding into what appeared to be a giant portal leading into a different era of time. Upon seeing this, she ran faster, calling his name loudly. He didn't seem to respond.

"Link!" Zelda cried. "Link, stop! You don't know what you're doing!" Still, he didn't listen. Zelda began to slow down, having come within about a hundred feet of him. She stepped up behind him and placed a gentle arm on his shoulder. "Oni, stop. This isn't right. You don't have to be Cia's puppet." Oni looked down at her with his menacing red eyes and bared his teeth.

"I am _no one's_ puppet." Oni said. He raised his arm in the air and smacked Zelda off to the side. Impa, who was right behind her, leapt into action, swinging her giant sword down on him. Oni deflected her attack with his own sword, its dual-helix blade flashing upon impact. The force of the deflection sent Impa flying backwards. She made a quick backflip through the air to recover, landing on her feet like a cat. Lana attacked next, throwing a magic barrier at him. He punched the barrier out of the way as if it were nothing, then swung down at the young sorceress. Lana jumped out of the way, landing next to Zelda. Midna popped out of her shadow and summoned her Fused Shadows, letting them float around her. Lana reached out to stop her.

"Midna, no!" She said. "You'll only waste your energy more!"

"How else can we defeat him?" Midna asked. "What better idea do you have?"

"Let him go." Impa ordered, walking towards them. "He's too powerful for us to handle right now. Had Zelda not tried to convince him, we would have had the element of surprise with us." Zelda looked at her pleadingly, then up at Oni, who turned and entered one of the three portals. Impa shook her head. "No, Zelda. We can't save him now. Our only hope is to get Cia out of range of possession. In other words, drive her out of Hyrule, or kill her."

"N-No!" Lana said. "We should convince her to let him go. Please, Impa, I can save both of them."

"Lana," Impa looked down at her with a sullen expression. "Cia is beyond saving. Her soul is too corrupted by darkness. We cannot save Link now because of his current illusiveness. Right now, our main objective is to find whatever evil Link is summoning inside those portals and stop it before it's too late. Am I understood?" The three girls nodded in agreement. "Very well, then. Let's head back to the camp and gather more of the Warriors to help us." She reached down and helped Zelda onto her feet, and together they walked back to the camp, eager to set a plan in motion.

They were unaware, however, of the white-haired young man standing off to the side, watching them return to their camp. He waited until they had gone out of sight, and then turned and ran, his black robes billowing in the wind as he sprinted across the fields towards the Desert.

* * *

><p>Ganondorf looked out over the great Desert before him, memories of his past jumping back and forth through his mind. He was once a great ruler of an ancient civilization, and later the entire kingdom of Hyrule. But his reign was short-lived, for the Hero of Time had interfered and put an end to it, sealing him away in a dark realm for many long years. When he had broken free of that seal two centuries later, he was met by a Hylian woman named Maria who had escaped slavery with her sister in the Southern Gerudo Desert, in a place known as the Valley of Seers. Her sister, engaged to an Alkorian man named Samuel, begged Ganondorf to protect the three of them from those who had enslaved them in the Valley. Hatching a plan to blend with the people of Hyrule so that it would be easier to take over, he agreed to help them, and in return he married Maria, with whom he had his two sons, Kyrus and Kraille. Then, shortly after the births of his sons, Maria's sister died giving birth to a baby boy, who was revealed as the next in the Hero's bloodline. Realizing his mistake, Ganondorf fled to the land of Alkor, where he raised his two sons as members of an old organization called the Black Mesa. Despite its ruined state, Alkor was a suitable place to raise his children under his dark influences. But Maria was not satisfied. She threatened to take the children and return to Hyrule, an action which Ganondorf was not pleased with. As a result, he killed her behind the backs of his children.<p>

But this action did not come without consequence. Several years later, when Ganondorf returned to Hyrule to begin his conquest on the world, he was captured by the Six Sages of Hyrule and sentenced to immediate death for murder, theft, and kidnapping. He was taken to the Arbiter's Grounds, where he was executed by the Sword of the Sages, otherwise known as the Sword of Death, or the Arbiter's Sword. But, because of a miraculous revival by the Triforce of Power, he lived, and exacted his revenge on the Sages by killing the Sage of Water. He would have escaped the Grounds, too, had it not been for the Sages banishing him to the Twilight Realm via the Mirror of Twilight. There, he met a power-hungry Twili named Zant, to whom he granted power over the Twilight. Ganondorf used Zant's new power to subdue Hyrule into eternal Twilight, and then began his attack, capturing Hyrule Castle and then spreading out to consume the rest of the country. Of course, by this time, he had forgotten that he was now the uncle to the next Hero, and when he had nearly completed his conquest, he was killed by the Hero of Twilight and his companion, the Twilight Princess. To the world, the Cycle of Eternity should have ended there. But Ganondorf knew better. Because his evil was so strong, he was able to resurrect himself and a handful of his loyal servants and bring about a new conquest for Hyrule. Now, he had claimed many territories in the country, save those owned by the Hylian forces. Cia's army had been almost diminished, but there was still the sorceress herself to take care of, along with her two comrades. But they would be easy to kill, and after them would come the final and permanent conquest of Hyrule. He chuckled to himself, thinking of the moment when he would finally have everything under his control. Even Link, as powerful as he was with the full Triforce, would not stand long before him.

As he mused over his thoughts, he was suddenly brought back to reality upon hearing a frantic call from his own son. Kyrus knelt before him respectfully, panting and coughing. Ganondorf turned to him, somewhat unamused.

"What are you doing, my son?" He asked. "You are supposed to be heading to Snowpeak. Why have you returned?"

"Father," Kyrus said, still out of breath. "I was... heading to Snowpeak as... you asked, but I saw... this strange phenomenon occur..."

"What sort of phenomenon, exactly?" Ganondorf demanded.

"Well... I saw Link... I mean, Oni, conjuring... some sort of trio of portals... outside Southern CastleTown. But he looked... nothing like the Oni... the Hylians would know. It was as if... he had turned against them... or was possessed by something. A Dark Oni." Ganondorf thought about this for a moment, wondering what this could mean. Then it dawned on him. He had heard rumors that Link had been held captive by Cia for a short few days. It was possible that the sorceress, in her desperate lust for the Hero and his power, transformed and possessed him, turning him into a weapon against the Hylians. It seemed like this was the case, and he had mixed feelings towards it. For one thing, Oni would present a serious problem for his forces, should he use those three portals to summon more of Cia's monsters. On the other hand, he could attempt to wrench Oni free of Cia's grasp and then re-possess him, then use him to conquer Hyrule, and later force the Triforce from him. The latter, he realized, was too risky. Oni was the essence of a god, and to possess a god would take power that Ganondorf did not have quite yet. He was still gaining much of his strength. Then his thoughts returned to the portals, and he had a new plan.

"Kyrus," He said. "Return to Snowpeak." Kyrus bowed and left the Mirror Chamber without a word, then Ganondorf pulled out a small black sphere and held it up in the air. Both Ghirahim's and Zant's faces appeared in the mists that swirled inside the sphere. "I want you two to utilize the portals outside Southern CastleTown. Take control of them and use them to summon monsters for our conquest, but beware of Oni and the sorceress Cia."

"What of the other Hylians?" Ghirahim asked. "And Cia's comrades?"

"I have not seen Volga since my return, and Wizzro disappeared just before your failure in the Sacred Grove." Ganondorf said. "As for the Hylian forces, fear them not. They will be of no danger to you, compared to Cia and Oni."

"Yes, master." Both of them said, and then their faces disappeared into the mist. Ganondorf put away the sphere and returned his gaze to the Desert, thoughts of his conquest coming back into his mind.

_What an interesting turn of events. _


	25. Chapter 24: Old Death Mountain

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Old Death Mountain_

"What? You're just going to leave us to fight Ganondorf's forces by ourselves?" Uriah was confused as to why the Queen was taking several of the Hyrule Warriors through the portals north of the camp, which would leave him with very few of them to fight with the army. The Warriors were the main fighters in the Hylian forces, and it was especially because of Midna's great power and Groose's genius thinking that helped them capture the entire Faron Province, as well as the Southern Hyrule Field. Without them, it was likely the army would not survive long.

"General Uriah," Zelda said. "As Queen of Hyrule, I have enough faith to believe that you will lead this army to victory in the coming battles. I promise you, we will return before you reach Ganondorf himself, and we will fight beside you in that last great battle."

"I understand, Your Highness." Uriah said, bowing. "We won't let you down." He turned and left her presence, and she turned to Impa, who had returned with a number of the Hyrule Warriors and three divisions of Hylian soldiers. Zelda raised an eyebrow when she saw Groose and his two comrades gawking amongst themselves as if they were the most important people in history. Ignoring this, she drew her attention to Impa.

"Is this all we're taking?" She asked.

"The Sages Ruto and Darunia will meet us at the portals," Impa confirmed. "But, yes, this is it."

"Right." Zelda took one last glimpse at her miniature army. "Let's go, before those portals become too dangerous."

* * *

><p><em>*Old Death Mountain, Era of Time. 736 AD*<em>

Zelda, Impa, Darunia, and Ruto all led their division of soldiers into one of the three portals, entering what Impa remembered to be Death Mountain during the Era of Time. Darunia pounded his chest with Goron pride, excited that he was back in his own time. Ruto was not so excited. Unlike Darunia, she was more focused on the energy of the mountain itself. What she felt now was a mix between Goron life, volcanic power and mysterious, shadowy life, and she instantly knew they were already in for a fight.

"Draw your weapons," She said. "Monsters will be here soon."

"What, already?" Darunia asked, looking around. "I don't see-" He was stopped short when a flaming arrow landed just inches from his feet. He looked up to see several Bokoblin archers aiming their arrows down at them. The Hylian soldiers raised their shields up in defense as the arrows rained down upon them. Zelda, Impa, and Ruto ducked behind the soldiers to protect themselves, whereas Darunia curled up into a ball and began rolling up the mountain. The Bokoblins were too distracted by the soldiers to notice the great Goron coming towards them until the second before he bulldozed over them all and kept going. Impa watched him go, a plan beginning to form in her mind.

"Darunia is still going upwards." She said. "He must be heading to Goron City to get reinforcements."

"What should we do?" Ruto asked. "We can't just sit here."

"Well, I understand Zelda and I are still tired from the trek over the Death Mountain of our time. But the best way to go about this is to follow Darunia up the mountain. It's likely we'll then be able to trap whatever monsters he's left for us in between our forces and the Gorons, and we can eliminate them from there."

"Sounds like a plan." Zelda said. She turned her attention to the soldiers. "Everyone, we're heading up! We're going to trap the monsters on the mountain!" The soldiers cheered in agreement, and began following their Queen up the natural path up Death Mountain. They hadn't gone too far when a plethora of monsters rounded the corner and came screaming down towards them, waving their weapons around like madmen. The soldiers charged, swinging their blades down upon the monsters as soon as they came within reach. Impa swung her massive blade in wide sweeps, taking out a half dozen monsters with each swing. She quickly carved her way through the monsters and kept moving, Zelda and Ruto not far behind her. The soldiers soon barreled their way over the monsters and kept climbing, quickly catching up with their leaders.

For a while, there were no monsters on the mountain as the Hylians ascended, which meant that Darunia must have managed to wipe them all out on his own. Neither Ruto nor Impa could sense any energy coming from monsters, but they both could feel an odd tingling on the backs of their necks. They couldn't ignore the fact that they could still sense monsters nearby, but no matter where they looked, there were none. It was only after several of the soldiers made sudden exclamations of surprise did the two Sages realize where the monsters were coming from. Down below, a horde of them raced across the country of old Hyrule, appearing to come from Lake Hylia. Impa quickly realized how big the horde was, and immediately called for the soldiers to move faster up the mountain.

As they ascended to the point where they could see the entrance into Goron City, Darunia came rushing back out, an army of Gorons behind him. He slowed to a halt as he drew closer to the Hylians, putting up a hand to signal for his own forces to stop. He then folded his arms and grinned at Impa, who looked around at the Gorons before her.

"Reinforcements have just arrived." Darunia said proudly. Impa smiled.

"Just in time, too." She said. "We've got a horde of monsters coming up the mountain behind us."

"Some of my scouts saw them too, just before I came in. Looks like they're coming from Lake Hylia."

"Well, maybe that's where they're being spawned." Ruto suggested.

"Could be." Darunia bowed his head in thought for a moment. Soon his eyes lit up with an idea. "OK, here's what I'm thinking. The Gorons and I will go ahead and roll our way down the mountain and out towards Lake Hylia, mowing down as many monsters as we can. You guys follow behind us and kill off any stragglers. Sound good?"

"It's the best plan we've got." Impa said. She turned to Zelda, who nodded in agreement. Darunia grinned, and turned to the Gorons.

"Alright, let's move!" He ordered. He curled up into a ball again and began rolling down the mountain. As the Hylian soldiers moved out of the way, the rest of the Gorons followed the actions of their leader and began rolling their way down the mountain. The Hylians waited until every Goron had gone ahead before Zelda called for them to follow. Crying out in pride, the soldiers willfully obeyed their Queen and began running back down the mountain, careful to stay close to the Gorons and yet keep a distance.

* * *

><p>It was nearing sunset when the Hylians finally made it back down to the bottom. In their path were the dead bodies of hundreds of monsters, most of them partially or completely flattened. There was blood everywhere, and even the soldiers - who had seen a lot of battle - felt a little woozy as they made their way through old Kakariko Village and out onto Hyrule Field. It was there that they saw a terrible sight. All around them lay the bodies of monsters and Gorons alike. Darunia and the larger remainder of the Gorons were further ahead, still plowing through the horde of monsters that was still trying to get to the mountain. Whatever monsters the Gorons had left behind had grouped together in a large cluster of around two hundred, and were now racing towards the Hylian forces. Zelda commanded her troops to stand their ground, and they all waited until the monsters came within arm's reach before they all lunged forward, cutting down every monster in their sight. Pretty soon, the three Hyrule Warriors had been separated from each other in the midst of the battle, each becoming occupied with saving their own skin.<p>

As the battle went on, Impa tried her best to get through the monsters and back to Zelda's side. But with every half dozen monsters she cut down, six more took their places, and she quickly noticed that there were still more stragglers coming in. There seemed to be more entering the battle than falling from it, which angered Impa and caused her to attack more fiercely. Still, she couldn't seem to reach Zelda.

Ruto, too, wanted to reach the Queen, but she was just as blocked off as Impa was. In a desperate attempt, she conjured a huge sphere of water using the moisture in the air, which caught several monsters in its current and began throwing them around inside of it. She moved forward towards Zelda, using the water as both a shield and a weapon. The water soon began to fill with drowning monsters, and Ruto's arms were starting to get tired. She shot out a quick jet of cold air from her hands, which froze the sphere of water entirely, monster bodies and all. She set the sphere down and pushed it into the cluster of monsters that were standing in between Impa and Zelda, killing the monsters both inside the sphere and out and clearing a space for both her and Impa to get to Zelda's side.

"Their numbers are finally going down." Impa said.

"I don't know how they managed to separate us," Ruto said. "But it seemed like a main motive for them. Darunia's gone ahead without us, too, which now worries me."

"If it was a main motive, then perhaps they were ordered by someone to kill us off. It seems like a logical explanation."

"But who gave the order?" Zelda asked. "It could be any of Cia's or Ganondorf's minions, or even Oni."

"The only one I know of that would try to single out one of us Warriors just to get in an easy kill would be Wizzro." Impa suggested. "He's done it before, so I'm putting my bet on him."

"Well, it doesn't matter who it was." Ruto said. "What matters is that if we don't do something about it, these monsters are just going to grow in number until they fill up the entire country."

"Right." Zelda agreed. She looked over at the soldiers, who were busy finishing off the last of the monsters. "All of you, prepare to move! We're going to Lake Hylia!" The soldiers dropped the bodies of the remaining monsters and stood in formation, waiting for Zelda to call the advance. She swung her sword forward, signaling it was time to move. As they walked, they stepped over the hundreds of dead bodies that littered the ground, whispering silent eulogies as they passed by their own allies. Many of the dead soldiers had families back in their time, which - to some of the living soldiers - would only make the explanation for their deaths a bit more confusing. To think that a man of the present day had died two hundred years in the past was both upsetting and confusing at the same time. But now was not the time to think of what would be said upon the return home. Now, the soldiers had to stay focused on their mission: To find who or what was responsible for the spawning of the monsters and put an end to it, closing the portal in the process. If the calculations of the Sages were correct, then the location of the monsters' spawn was in Lake Hylia, which meant that their temporary journey was coming to a close, and soon they would reunite with their fellow soldiers in their own time.

But while Impa believed it was Wizzro controlling the forces, Zelda hoped in her mind that Oni was the one responsible, and that maybe she and the Sages would be able to bring him back to reality. Of course, one question still remained once that was done: How would she tell him she couldn't love him anymore, because of what would happen if she continued to do so? Or, how would he respond after she would finally tell him?


	26. Chapter 25: The Water Temple

_THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE GREAT WAR  
><strong>PART TWO: From Vision to Reality<strong>_

_CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: The Water Temple_

The chaotic scene the Hylians expected upon arrival at Lake Hylia was nonexistent. Bodies both Goron and monster littered the ground, but there were still many Gorons up and running around, securing keeps and outposts in case of another monster attack. Darunia was standing on the shoreline, looking out over the lake at the notorious Water Temple, his face filled with concern. He didn't notice either of his Warrior comrades until they had stepped up beside him and looked down at the Temple as well. Immediately, each one of them had a look of worry on their faces.

"The monsters are spawning in that maze?" Impa asked. Darunia nodded slowly.

"Afraid so." He said. "They closed off the entrance not too long ago. One of them said something about 'protecting the gate'. Any of you know what that means?"

"Unfortunately, no." Impa bowed her head in thought, furrowing her brow. "We need to get in there and find whatever 'gate' they're protecting. The question is, how do we do it?" She stepped away from the shoreline and looked around the area, searching for any sign of a key or switch. Yet none could be seen. She looked up into the sky, noticing that the sun was already beginning to set in this era. It was probably morning in their time, and General Uriah would have everyone up and ready to go.

For a while, all four of them stood in silence as they racked their brains for an idea on how to get inside the Water Temple. Eventually, Ruto noticed an odd shimmer of light coming from under the water. She looked in the direction of the light and saw a switch positioned above the Temple's entrance. Without saying anything, she dove into the water and swam down towards the switch. The switch was a contraption that needed a good blow to its surface in order for it to activate. Ruto couldn't hit it hard enough with her hands, and so she swam further down and grabbed a large rock from the lakebed. The rock's weight made it difficult for her to swim back up to the switch, but fortunately it was a short distance for her, and she made it back up without wasting too much time. It took all of her effort to keep herself level with the switch as she raised the rock up and slammed it back down on the switch's surface, causing it to activate and open the entrance to the Temple.

Satisfied with her work, she turned and began swimming back up. She didn't appear to be moving, however, and she started to notice that the water level was going down. Suddenly she realized that much of the lake's water was draining into the Temple, and that she was getting sucked in with it. She kicked harder, using up all of her energy in a desperate attempt to escape, but the water's current became too much for her, and she was forced downwards and pulled into the Temple.

As the water level fell, the army made their slow descent into the Temple. All three of the remaining Hyrule Warriors feared for Ruto's life after having seen her get pulled into the Temple by the water drainage. Impa believed this was another tactic to separate them, making them more vulnerable.

"We must stick together," She said to both Darunia and Zelda. "If we are separated, it could very well mean our end."

"I hope Ruto is alright," Zelda replied as they entered the Temple. It was somehow dry inside, which led to Impa's assumption that there was a drain somewhere in the Temple. Around them were the drowned bodies of hundreds of monsters, but no sign of Ruto. Zelda was about to shout for her, but Impa covered her mouth, telling her to remain silent. She turned and ordered the army behind them to do the same, and immediately everyone froze in their place. Impa looked around, training her ears to different nearby locations in the Temple. For a moment, nothing. Then came the undeniable cackle of Wizzro, echoing through the halls.

"Eee hee hee! Minions, destroy the intruders! Protect the Gate of Souls!"

"Gate of Souls?" Zelda asked quietly. "Was that what the monsters were talking about, Darunia?"

"It makes sense." Darunia said. "The only problem we have is, where in this maze of a Temple is it?"

"Look at the ground." Impa said, pointing to the ground. There was sand all over, and it looked like it had been blown over by something. There were two paths leading around the center of the Temple. "It looks like the water carves a path in the sand as it's drained from the Temple. The sand might lead us to the drain, which may very well be where the Gate is. We should-" She was stopped short by a rumbling coming from within the Temple. "They're here. Everyone, attack the enemy! But don't destroy the sand paths!" The army obeyed, running off in the direction of the rumbling. They did their best not to ruin the sand paths on the ground as they charged, leaving Impa, Darunia, and Zelda behind. The three of them ran off in the other direction, following one of the sand paths. The path led them into a room in one of the four corners of the Temple, which had in its center a large drain. At the far end of the room was a crank, which they assumed was a part of a much larger contraption. Darunia took a closer look at it, squinting his eyes to read a small text carved into it.

"What is it, Darunia?" Impa asked.

"It says, 'Turn the two cranks to finish the draining'." Darunia read. "There must be another crank in this Temple."

"So the sand paths lead to each crank." Zelda said. "Let's turn this one and go find the other."

"There's more." Darunia looked down at another bit of text below the first one. "It says 'turn one, then hold it and turn the other at the same time'. I guess the second one will lock itself and the first in place, so we'll need to separate."

"What?" Impa said. "No, we can't. We need to-"

"-Impa, listen. I can still feel Ruto's energy inside the Temple. She's probably in the same place as the Gate of Souls. We need these two cranks turned so we can drain the rest of the Temple and get to her, and the three of us are the only ones able to do it." Impa thought about it for a moment, and sighed when she realized that separation - even for a brief time - was inevitable.

"I still feel uncomfortable with this," Impa said. "But it's the only chance we have of finding Ruto and getting to the Gate of Souls."

"Alright!" Darunia cheered, pounding his chest. "You two turn this one and hold it, and I'll go off and find the other one. You'll know when the water's drained." He curled up into a ball and rolled off, leaving Impa and Zelda behind with the crank. Impa set up a magical barrier at the room's entrance as a shield, in case any stray monsters decided to come looking for them. The two of the walked up to the crank and grabbed hold of the lever, pushing it counterclockwise. With the two of them together, pushing the crank was slightly easier than it would be with just one of them, but it was still extremely difficult. Zelda could feel sweat dripping from her forehead, and she looked up at Impa to see the same.

"Keep pushing!" Impa said. "I think we've almost turned it fully." The two of them exerted as much of their strength as they could muster, pushing until the crank would no longer move. They each planted their feet firmly on the ground, pushing against the lever with every ounce of strength they had. Sweat soon began to flow like waterfalls from their faces, dripping constantly onto the ground. Zelda was quickly losing strength, and if Darunia didn't turn the other crank in time, Impa would be the only one pushing, and likely not for very long.

After what felt like a good ten or so minutes, they finally heard a loud click come from inside the crank, and then the sound of rushing water. The two of them finally pushed themselves away from the crank, landing on their backs on the sandy ground. Both of them were breathing quite heavily, massaging their muscles. Neither of them wanted to move.

"Well... the way is open." Impa panted.

"Yes... Let's go... close that Gate." Zelda agreed. She weakly stood up, leaning on the crank for support, and reached down to help Impa onto her feet. Impa reached behind her and pulled two small bottles of red liquid out from a pouch on her belt. She handed one to Zelda.

"Drink this," She said. "It'll bring your strength back." Zelda took the bottle and popped off the cap, putting it to her lips. The sour liquid flowed into her mouth, but she didn't dare spit it out. Impa winced as she also drank the liquid, but the effects from it were quite rejuvenating. They could both feel their strength returning quickly, and soon they were ready to join the fray.

"Alright," Zelda said, handing Impa the empty bottle. She winced at the liquid's aftertaste. "Let's get moving."

* * *

><p>Impa and Zelda found Darunia literally hammering down monsters in front of the entrance to the Temple's center. On his shoulder was Ruto, unconscious from being sucked into the Temple. He was having a difficult time getting away from the battle, and carrying both Ruto and a large hammer was only just beginning to exhaust him. Immediately, Impa jumped into the battle, swinging her Giant Blade in huge circles, cutting through monsters left and right. She began clearing a path for Darunia to escape, and soon Zelda joined in with her rapier. Within only a few minutes, Darunia was clear to leave.<p>

"Thanks, you two." He said. "Ruto's out cold, so I'm getting her out of here. You close that Gate of Souls; it's what's responsible for all these monsters."

"Good luck, Darunia." Zelda said. "We'll meet you outside." Darunia nodded and left, and Zelda and Impa turned back towards the center. Inside was the Gate of Souls, which looked strangely like the portals Oni had summoned earlier. Next to the Gate was Wizzro, smacking Hylian soldiers to the side as they advanced. He looked up at the two of them and frowned.

"Minions!" He cackled, pointing at Impa and Zelda. "Forget the soldiers and their Goron friends! Kill those two!" The monsters immediately stopped their defense against the Hylian army and obeyed their commander's new orders. The soldiers quickly realized where they were headed and began cutting them down, shouting to each other about protecting the Queen. Impa, completely fed up with cutting down monster after monster, slammed her Giant Blade into the ground and summoned a ball of shadow magic. She threw the ball down onto the ground, letting it explode and wipe out every last monster in the area, which greatly startled Wizzro. Once the last monster had dropped, she drew her Blade from the ground and lunged at the sorcerer, crying out in anger. She swung out, expecting to cut through Wizzro's stomach. Instead, she cut through air as Wizzro snapped his fingers and vanished. She clenched her teeth in anger, then flipped her sword up and behind her, sliding it into its scabbard.

"That cowardly bastard." She said. Zelda walked up and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get him eventually." She assured her. "For now, let's close this Gate together." Impa nodded and turned towards the Gate, raising her hand in the air. Zelda did the same, and from their hands came beams of light that circled the Gate, covering it entirely and causing it to disappear into thin air. Sighing with relief, the two women turned and left the room, making their way through the dead bodies and out of the Temple. Now it was time to return home.


	27. Hiatus Notice

As of now, this story is officially on hiatus for the following reasons:

()-Serious Writer's Block  
>(X)-Life distractions<br>(X)-Unnecessary Medical Issues  
>()-Necessary Medical Issues<br>()-Constant Negative Reviews/PMs  
>()-Other<p>

Legend:

(X) = Reason for hiatus  
>()=Unused hiatus option<p>

I'm sorry for the inconvenience, I will return as soon as I can


End file.
